The Hero's Ascension
by SkullszEyes
Summary: Link dreams of his destiny and fate, and when he's chosen to bare the old relic, he must find the sacred sword, the lost princess of a ruined kingdom, and the man shrouded in darkness. His quest takes a dangerous toll on him, the expectations weighing him down, including his desperation to keep his friends—who have decided to come along—alive. / Continued on Ao3
1. A Dream of Destiny and Fate

Storm clouds thickened the surrounding ruins of Hyrule Castle, and a man stood alone, shrouded in darkness, gripping a sword with the symbol of the old relic shining upon the back of his hand.

Across from this menacing being was a young man stepping forth, ready to fight, to end whatever the man decided to do with the world. One of the three pieces had bestowed upon him, sitting idle on the hand that clutched the sword of legend, from stories spoke to young children, to myths in old texts, and rumors fading in the wind as time went on.

To their right, far into the distance shone a white light, and like the man who was shrouded in darkness, this person was hidden by pure light, and they shared the same mark on the back of their own hand.

The puzzle must be completed, and they were the pieces that fit together, even though the three were vastly different with different ideals of the lifetime they lived in.

The one wearing the green tunic and hat, clutched the Blade of Evil's Bane, and before he could take a step, the dream came to a startling end.

Link woke from an insistent knock coming from his front door. He scrambled, barely awake before falling off the bed and onto the floor. He groaned, pushing himself up, he walked toward the staircase and descended to the main floor of his home, past the nook in the corner where the green painted bookshelf and sofa sat against the wide window, and the kitchen that was close to the front door where the noise was coming from.

He grabbed the knob and pulled it open. The brightness of the outside made him wince, only to be laughed at by his friend, Jin. His brown soft hair was partially hiding the side of his face and he wore an amused grin.

"Finally awake?" Jin asked.

Link nodded, rubbing his eyes. "Yeah...what's going on?"

Jin walked past him and into the house, Link closed the door and turned to see Jin with his hands on his hips.

"You were meant to meet me at Fado Lake."

Link's mind was still muddled by the dream and the questions to what he witnessed. It seemed real, the danger had his heart beating frantically in his chest. He glanced down at the back of his hand where the mark sat glowing faintly inside his dream. Except there was nothing there, just his plain hand unmarred.

"Sorry, Jin," Link said, finally coming to his senses and looking up at his friend.

"Did you have a bad dream?" Jin asked, watching him peculiarly.

Link smiled, it seemed like a bad dream, and it seemed like something more important. He didn't know what, but there was a sinking feeling in his gut that he knew why that place, those people, seemed so familiar. As if it happened before, standing in that same position, with the blade that he knew was only his, including the mark itself. There was an intense feeling toward the man, and an indifference to the bright light. He didn't know why.

"Garik likes to ramble on about the _old ways_ ," Link said with a shrug, "sometimes I listen to him, sometimes I don't. His nonsensical stories must've gotten stuck in my head."

"Do you always speak to Garik?" Jin asked, curiously.

"No."

Jin nodded, "Alright. Well, you should get dressed and we can head out."

Link watched Jin walk out the front door, and once it was closed, he went upstairs to look for clean clothes. He picked a simple deep blue tunic with red markings along the collar. He pulled on beige colored pants and socks. He looked for his rupees before heading downstairs to slip his shoes on.

Jin was at the bottom of his stairs, waiting for him with a plucked flower in his hand.

"Quit destroying my flowers," Link reprimanded, glaring at Jin who gave a smirk in return as he discarded the pink flower and its pulled off petals.

They walked away from his home and along the path into Akyllan Village where they grew up in.

"Will Dira met us at Fado?" Link asked Jin who was quietly humming beside him. Jin was two inches taller than Link, and a year older. Since becoming adults, they were given more work in the village, and the expectations kept growing as they aged. Link wondered when he could ever wander alone without someone telling him that he had to set an example for the younger children.

"She's bringing Keras," Jin informed Link, who frowned.

"Why?" he asked. There was nothing wrong with Keras, except the stony gaze and indifference she piles onto them. Nothing they did ever made her smile, made her want to do something besides practice sword fighting with Vollon, the village master swordsman. He trains most recruits who wants to learn how to wield a weapon to defend their village, or even the other villages around Hyrule Plains.

Jin seemed content in Link's presence, and his smile was always easy going. There were times when he was distracted when other people were with them, but it didn't mean that Jin would get up and leave. He simply tolerated certain people.

"I didn't ask Dira why she's bringing Keras, but maybe Vollon isn't teaching today," Jin said, and it didn't look like he cared about the real answer.

Link didn't bother pushing the subject. The village was thriving like usual, houses sat along two roads, and young children played together between houses and into the farmlands. They were never allowed near the forests, nor the entrances of either side of the village. Once when Link was young and feisty, he had played pranks on most of the adults, and because of this temperament, he was isolated to a home away from the others, and as he grew older, the adults share a similar distrusting look when they see him.

He isn't offended, more triumphant that he was able to have this type of affect.

Several young women they grew up with waved at them. Some who Jin had spoke to many times during their school years, and even had the chance to be more than friends. Link was never interested in dating, and when he was isolated, he grew distant toward the affection of others.

"Still dating Paka?" Link asked, his gaze spotted a young woman sitting on the steps of a shop. She wore a pink dress that came to her knees, and her long brown hair was pulled into a braid. Her gaze fell on them, and whatever carefree expression she had was gone.

"Broke up with her a long time ago," Jin said, looking away from her and at Link, "I'd rather not date anyone I'm not interested in."

"You dated a lot of people," Link commented dryly.

Jin shrugged, "I didn't know who I was interested in. It was all experimental at the time."

"And you know now?" Link asked, they passed Paka whose gaze stayed on them until they were walking along the path out of the village.

Jin didn't break eye contact when he said, "Yeah. I know who I'm interested in."

Link hoped he'd elaborated, but Jin said nothing else, and they were interrupted by Dira standing at the end of the path with Keras. Her dark eyes were unlike most of the women in Akyllan, they spoke of dangerous things, and she had her arms crossed, looking quite peeved at them.

"You're late."


	2. A Memory

"It wasn't my fault," Jin said, giving Link a side glance as a smile pulled to the corner of his lips. "Link slept in, like always."

Dira, a white haired woman with sheared hair that came to her shoulders, glared with her red eyes. "We told you days ago what we were doing."

Link shrugged. "Sorry that I like sleep more than going outside."

Shaking her head, annoyed. "Whatever. It's still day time, we can manage this expedition and return in the evening."

"It's not like we're doing anything earth shattering," Link says, yawning. Jin chuckles beside him. "We're only going to Fado Lake."

"Which sits between the woods, and Hyrule Plains," Dira reminded him, she turned on her heel and gestured for Keras to follow her. Keras had dark skin, with long red hair, and golden eyes that shown a kind of boredom that was familiar to him.

They were pretty, and as they grew older, their beauty was obvious by the village boys that liked to faun over them. Link and Jin were friends with them as children. They didn't see them other than Dira was demanding and impatient. While Keras didn't want to do anything they wanted to do, but follows along anyway.

"I don't see why she's so fascinated by the lake," Link says, following along after Dira and Keras.

Jin walked beside him, and shrugged at his comment. "Who knows? Dira likes her secrets, but she has been asking about fishing lately."

Link's brows furrowed, once as he grew older, he had wanted to do that. Become a fisherman. He saw how the men and women of their village would go out and then return with a load of fish they separated amongst the adults. They'd cook fish over a fireplace, and eat until they were ready to go to bed.

"What if she thinks her soulmate will show up there." Link grinned. He'd love to see Dira wearing her most beautiful dress, and hoping someone would sweep her off her feet.

"Dira let go of that idealization when the Ruros brothers pranked her," Jin said. "And later screamed how she hated men."

Link and Jin were there when all the Ruros brothers would do was scare her with Cucco feathers. They flown around her in a swirl until she screamed. Their smiles fell when they heard Dira's hard breathing. Her face a shade of red, and her fingers curled until her knuckles were white. He later learned she had dug them hard until she left imprints in her palms, some broke the skin. She still has the telltale markings on her palms from that time.

The other odd thing was that she hung out with him and Jin. She demanded them to hang out with her and Keras, and they followed after them since.

The trip to Fado Lake wasn't far, but it took time for them to get there. They lived near a large forest, and beyond that was Hyrule Plains. The ruins to the castle town that surrounded the castle decayed over the years since the royal family disappeared. Some lost hope that Princess Zelda was alive, but there were a few who kept to their prayers that she survived since her body was neve4 recovered. She was eleven when it happened, and Link was nine. He didn't know what was happening at the time, but as he grew older, he heard about it from the adults.

He listened to Garik's stories. The ones consisting of a legend that ran through the princess's blood, and the nameless hero who saved her. There were murals of the hero, with his blond hair and green tunic, a sword in hand. The legendary sword that sat in the pedestal. Waiting for the hero to pull it free.

He listened to Garik's stories so many times that he knew most of them. The hero who lived during a flood, and the other going through a mirror, and one where the hero met his shadow. Over the years, he started to think these were simple stories that Garik liked to tell. He was passionate, but they sounded strange. Like they weren't real. Or they couldn't be real.

Some of the adults said that Garik went mad when his siblings had died during the war. Including his wife who died by a sickness, taking their unborn son with her.

Link took the stories and told some kids about them, but he made it more like a game. And the kids would swing around wooden swords, saying they were the hero who saves the princess.

That was another thing. The Legendary Hero always saved the princess, but they never got together. The stories were so shrouded that no one knew if they were in love. He heard one story where they were both trapped by time. He liked that story, but he also liked the more darker ones.

The Hero who met his shadow, the embodiment of his pain. It made the hero seem more like a person. Who carried onward to do his purpose, but forced to comply to a fate that he didn't choose for himself.

He felt a nudge and he looked at Jin.

"You okay?" he asked, "you had this strange expression on your face. Thinking too much?"

Link shrugged. "I wouldn't want to have a burden placed on me. At least the type that pushes me to a sword." He frowned. "I don't know how to fight with one."

Jin laughed, and it was warm. One he heard many times, that sent his heart racing. It was nice to hear. "You should visit Vollon, he'll train you."

"I don't know." He still worked with the older men during their fishing trips, and sometimes he helped in the shops. Other than that, he was okay with not wielding a sword.

They followed the path past the tall trees and into the wide plains. As they walked in the the shade. Link looked off to the horses, they moved around each other, eating the tall grass. They usually go to Fado Lake when they're thirsty, or leave for another area when the monsters appear.

As Link watched, he felt a pulse in his body that wasn't his heart. He stopped, staring at the horses. He let out a shaky breath before a sharp pain assaulted his mind. He groaned, his hands coming to the sides of his head, fingers digging into his scalp.

"Link? Link!" Jin was beside him, holding his arm. "Are you okay? What's wrong?"

He didn't know what was wrong. Flashes appeared in his head, images of a brown horse with a saddle. He stood beside her, smiling and petting her mane, giving her apples to eat from the long journey. She was always there for him whenever he was lonely. And survived countless battles. She survived it all, while he was bleeding and weak. His breath, shallow. She stayed with him until the last.

"Don't leave me," the words came out with all those images inside his head, many different variations, "Epona."


	3. A Jewel Below The Surface

Link sat on several large rocks beside Fado Lake. He had his knee pressed against his chest, and his chin on top. Observing Dira and Keras swimming in the lake, they had gone to the middle of it, and was sinking into its depths, but every few seconds, they'd rise back up. Both talking about something, or maybe the reason why Dira wanted to come to Fado Lake in the first place.

The warm wind blew strands of his blond hair to the side. He was preoccupied with his thoughts, with what happened out in the field. The headache, and the images vanished right after they took place.

Jin told him he spoke a name through his ramblings, but they weren't able to hear what he said. Link couldn't remember either. All he knew was that there was a horse in all the images who had stayed with him throughout his travels. Comforting him through the pain, and keeping him company when he was lonely.

He had the urge look for her.

"Link." Jin crawled onto the rocks and sat beside him, smiling with several berries in his hands. "Want some?"

"Are they poisonous?" Link asked dryly.

Jin gave him a wry look before plopping a berry into his mouth. "No, Link. They are not poisonous. I learned a lot from Tiria. She helped us figure which were poisonous berries and the ones that aren't." Jin gave him a pointed look. "I told you to take her classes."

Link shrugged, his mind shrouded by memories and the present. "I would've, but I was busy."

Jin rolled his eyes. "Yeah, you were completely busy stacking books for Eren, and later reading them until he found you surrounded by the books you were supposed to label."

"I thought it was fun," Link said. He learned a bit more about Hyrule, and its surrounding people. Mostly the other inhabitants living in different tribes, with their many different cultures. He would like to meet them, to see them with his own two eyes, and experience something else besides the same old thing.

"Are you okay?" Jin asked, nudging him in the side.

Link nodded, fiddling with his fingers. "I'm not sure what happened...out in the field." It was painful, his chest tightening, and he had the unbearable urge to scream. Except he couldn't, all he felt was exhaustion once the memories began to fade from his mind. As if they never existed, but in a small way, remained, like a residuel he couldn't rid.

Jin watched him, and then he nodded, his voice somber. "Hopefully something like that doesn't happen any time soon."

"I hope so too."

Dira and Keras swam back over to them. Both women's brows were pinched, and their eyes dark with annoyance. Dira made it to the edge of the water and stood up. Water dripped from her chain, and slid down her neck, across her collar bone and—

"We need your help," she said, threading her fingers through her short white hair.

"What do you need help with?" Link asked, looking off to the spot where he watched them dive into, but coming to the surface with nothing. They were looking for something specific.

"I lost something awhile ago and it's at the bottom of the lake. It's the reason why I wanted us to come here," Dira explained, nudging Keras in the arm with her elbow, "we can't reach it."

"And why do you think we can?" Jin asked, frowning.

Dira narrowed a glare at him. "Because. You two worked for the fishermen—"

"Doesn't mean they taught us how to hold our breath longer than a minute."

Dira slumped her shoulders, and all her energy was gone. "Please try and help me get it back."

Link and Jin exchanged looks. They never heard Dira beg, nor look tired, she always held an energy that never seem to leave her. They stood, and jumped into the water. Link laughed when he came up for air, his ears twitching at Dira swearing at them. He and Jin swam to the spot where Dira and Keras were earlier. Sucking in a breath, he dove beneath the water's surface. It was clear, but as he swam deeper, the water darkened.

To his annoyance, flashes of memories appeared in his mind. They were thinner and weaker than the previous images he experienced. These were simply himself swimming in the depths of water. He wore different types of blue and silver clothes that looked similar to scales and armour. It seemed to push him deeper into the water, the strength of himself inside the memory had a skill he never mastered. He reached out with his hand, and the clothes within his memory covered his body, and the pressure around him lessened, his breath wasn't as suffocating in his chest.

Link dug his fingers into the bottom of the lake where he grasped a group of wet sand, including a sparkling jewel with a thin silver rusted chain going through.

A stronger image appeared as he swam back to the surface. His body was light, and once he broke the surface. Instead of Fado Lake, he was in front of a young girl with light blue skin and scales upon her entire body. She was smiling at him, her eyes large and wonderous. She held a type of jewel in her hand, it was large and beautiful. He never seen something like this before.

"We're now engaged to be married once you take this artifact of the Zora's," the young girl said, a giggle leaving her lips.

A hand gripped his arm and he turned to Jin who was staring at him. Water droplets fell from his long black lashes. He wore a concerned look upon his face.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

Link nodded, he looked down at his hand that was submerged in water. He let the sand wash away and reveal the jewel. It was a lot smaller than the jewel he seen in the vivid memory in the hands of a young Zora.

He heard of them. They lived far from the village, but the streams throughout Hyrule connected to their reservoir. They were able to go anywhere if there was water. Except, since Hyrule's destruction, including the loss of the royal family. All tribes have stayed disconnected since. Meaning, no one has seen a Zora in a long time, their features could be different. He heard they didn't age like humans did. They had a longer life span, and were quite regal.

"Let's give it back to Dira," Jin says, his voice soft.

Link nods. They clutches the jewel and they swim back toward the shore where Dira and Keras are waiting for them. Once they get onto the surface of the shore, he walks over to Dira whose arms are crossed.

Anticipation is clear on her face, and he can even see worry between the crease of her brows. "Do you have it?" she asked.

Link smiled, and this made her smile. She was beautiful when there was a light in her eyes, a hope that basks her face in warmth. He handed her the jewel, and relief washes over her as she gently takes it from his hand.

"This is my sister's," she whispers, gliding a finger over the reddish jewel.

Link's mouth parts, and his heart races. He heard about her growing up, he was there when she was buried. Dira was lonely after that, and during her time growing up. She rebelled. A sister who lost her older sister. He watched her fake her feelings, and sometimes she cried, and she took out her rage on others when she was overwhelmed by those lonely days.

"You all know," Dira says, glancing at each of them before returning her eyes onto the jewel, "Nila died during The Ancient Scourge that happened several years ago. One of the many victims of Hyrule. I was angry at the world, that it took my sister from me. I was angry at myself for not being able to stop it. I threw the jewel into the water, and afterwards I regretted it. I would come here, trying to get it back. After awhile I gave up…" She looked up at Link, and her red eyes were rimmed with tears. "Thank you for getting it back for me."

Link nodded, and he stepped forward, bringing her into his arms. She held him back, and her choked sobs made her shudder against his chest.

A soft splash made them all tense and look toward the sound.

The image of the young girl came Link's mind. Smiling and warm, and when he had gone forward into time, she was older, more mature and regal like the princess she was. But now she had more of a responsibility to her Temple. Her smile was sad, and it reminded him of another girl with a sad smile, tears in her eyes that he couldn't vanquish from his memory now that it had surfaced.

"A Zora?" Dira spoke before the others could, and she moved from Link's arms, walking until her feet were submerged. She clasped the necklace around her neck and walked a bit more until her knees were in the water.

Link stayed still, watching the Zora flit throughout the water. She was young, beautiful with her blue and silver skin. Unlike the girl in his memory, this one was different. She had fear in her bright blue eyes, watching them peculiarly.

What were these memories? Were they truly his or someone else's?


	4. An Echo Between The Past And The Future

Dira's elation warmed her skin as she stared at the Zora. Flailing her arms, she called out to it, but the Zora moved back within the water, drawing ripples upon the surface. Dira didn't let that stop her, and she ignored the protests coming from Link, Jin, and Keras, and dove into the water toward the retreating Zora.

"Great," Jin said, "now what?"

"We go after her," Keras said. She dove into the water and Link and Jin glanced at each other before following after her. Dira didn't get as close to the Zora now that she hid amongst the thick vines hanging off the sides of the rocky surface near a waterfall. With a closer inspection, the Zora's blue skin darkened in the water, and was lighter silver in the sun.

"Hi," Dira says, sincere as she waved her hand, "we're not going to hurt you."

The Zora stared at her, but didn't move away from the vines.

Link looked away, every time he blinked, the Zora would remind him of another. Yet he never met a Zora before. All he could remember were flashes of a young woman running towards her God and being eaten by it.

"Dira," Jin warned, but she swam closer to the Zora.

The Zora opened her mouth and spoke soft and light, except her language was obscured.

"What?" Dira asked.

Link frowned, but Dira didn't stop swimming until she noticed the Zora was about to move is when she finally did come to a stop in the water.

The Zora struggled for a moment, but her voice came through and the words were Hylian. "What are you?"

"I'm Sheikah," Dira answered, before turning her body and pointing at her friends. "Keras is Gerudo, Link and Jin are Hylian. We live in Akyllan village. It's not too far from here."

The Zora glanced between them, but her eyes went back to Dira. "I've heard of you, the races amongst the land. I don't know the village."

"Of course. It's not near any water, our fisherman go to lakes or even the ocean for resources." Dira moved closer, the water rippling with her movements. "We've haven't come across a Zora before, but we know where your Domain is."

The Zora slowly left the wall covered vines. "Ekos. My name is Ekos."

Dira laughs, and to Link, it's genuine as she whispers, "She's beautiful." As Dira swims closer to Ekos, a sharp pain runs itself throughout Link's body and he winces, gritting his teeth and tightening his eyes closed.

Flashes of memories that feel foreign as he stares at a young Zora in red and white designs and blue and silver regalia upon her slim form. The young Zora is warm in tone, and shy in her features. But tragedy followed him to her, and she was left trapped in a beast after it slaughtered her.

A wet hand brought him out of those painful thoughts and he snapped his head to the side where Jin now swam beside him. "Are you alright?"

Link nodded, breathing heavily. "I'm fine." But he wasn't sure if he was, and looked to Dira and the Zora, Ekos, drawing closer to each other.

"I'll return," Dira promised, "if you will."

The Zora looked uncertain by the promise, but soon a smile formed upon her face and she nodded.

Keras was the first to turn, then Jin, and Link, and soon after, Dira, followed them. When they reached the shore. Link's hands were wrinkled, and he was shivering from their long stay in the water. Jin and Keras grabbed the towels they had brought with them, and wrapped themselves in it before offering the others to Link and Dira.

Jin sat beside Link on the soft grass with the towels over their shoulders. Water dripped from Link's blond strands, and slithered from his face to his jawline. But his gaze stayed on the water, and on the Zora that still watched them.

"I can't believe it," Dira said as she and Keras appeared from the trees behind them where they had dried off and dressed, "that we seen a real Zora."

"It was dangerous," Jin said, standing and reaching for his clothes lying several feet from Link. "Zora's are dangerous to be around."

"There was only one," Dira said, shaking her head. "It wasn't like she was going to attack us."

"They are warriors."

Dira scoffed. "So are we."

Link broke his gaze from the Zora when she finally lowered herself into the water and disappeared from sight. He dried himself off while Dira stomped away back into the forest with Keras.

"I can't believe her," Jin said, pulling his shirt on.

Link looked at his clothes and began to pull them on. "She's right, we haven't seen a Zora before. Only heard stories thanks to Garik."

"But they're dangerous." Jin held a small knife in his hand, and Link figured he had it when they entered the lake. He was careful, but it was unnecessary.

"She didn't attack us," Link reminded, pulling his shirt over his head. "Either way, we both know that we wouldn't have let anything happen to Dira. Keras was there too, we were all cautious of what could've happened, but nothing did. And finally coming across a Zora is a bonus." He stepped closer to Jin who put away the knife. "Just think of all the things we weren't allowed to see in the world, and we finally got to witness a small part of it in our favorite place."

Jin raised his head and smiled. "You're right. It was interesting."

They both headed into the forest where they caught sight of Dira and Keras waiting ahead of them. "More than interesting, miraculous," Link said, "we didn't die, and Dira got her necklace back."

What bothered Link the most was how he felt about seeing the Zora in the first place. About the water that surrounded him and pulled him under. That made him feel invincible and welcomed. And yet the suffocating pain curled in his chest and throbbed on all sides of his head.

 _Link._

His name spoken in two different voices, feminine in tone, and soft yet filled with sorrow. He knew he failed them, and he had to do what he had to at the time, but even his own destiny brought him to his knees. He wasted too much time and he wished to return to one moment, and another, but they were never the same.

"Hey," Jin whispered, but Link knew his voice was louder by the time his feet came to a stand still in the middle of the woods. Jin's hands were on his shoulders, and he could hear the voices of Dira and Keras mixing together until his mind stopped.

"What's wrong with him?" Keras asked.

"I don't know, we were talking, and then...he stopped responding to me," Jin said, voice filled with worry.

"This is the second time this happened," Dira spoke, taking Link's left hand. "Let's bring him to Tala."

Jin twined Link's right hand with his own, and they walked through the forest. Leading Link away from the lake, away from the memories that swallowed him, but he was still numb and empty of thought that even his lips wouldn't move to speak a word. They returned to the village, and Link felt the eyes fall upon him as they walked through until they climbed the wooden steps of one of the houses that belonged to Tala, the village Healer.

"Tala," Dira called.

An older woman with brown hair streaked with grey pulled to the back of her head turned at the sound of her name. Her green and blue eyes spotted them, but her gaze fell upon Link as she crossed the room to him. "What's wrong with him?"

"We don't know," Keras answered, "that's why we brought him here."

Tala nodded and pointed toward a hall. "Bring him to the room over there. I'll have to inspect him."

"He wasn't in any fights," Jin told Tala, loosening his hand and breaking contact with Link as Dira and Keras led him down the hall. "He simply stopped responding to...us."

"It's okay," Dira cooed, bringing Link into the small room with a lone bed in the middle near a square window. A white sheet divider sat on the side, including a desk with a ceramic basin, and a water jug on the floor. Dira sat Link down on the bed, keeping her hand intertwined with his.

"He didn't hit his head, did he?" she asked Keras.

Keras stayed standing with her arms crossed over her chest. "No. He didn't. This was before we arrived to Fado Lake. He had one episode—"

"Don't call them that," Dira said, cutting her off. "Nothing is wrong with him...he's…" She frowned at Link who stared at the wooden floor, breathing evenly.

"We're both worried for Link's health, but since he hasn't responded before and after means something. Right now, we should consider them episodes until we know for sure," Keras said gently.

Dira nodded reluctantly.

Tala and Jin entered the room where Jin informed Tala that Link has been suffering from headaches since he woke up.

"Do you think it was an injury before today?" Dira asked Tala who held a small blue translucent jar in the shape of a scallop in her hand.

Tala shook her head. "He would've had symptoms beforehand, you said this happened twice?" she asked.

"Before we went to Fado Lake, and while we were leaving," he told her.

"This jar has herbs in it that will help, but from what I can see and what you told me. He doesn't have any physical injuries. This can be emotional or psychological. The concoction should help for a few days," Tala passed the jar to Jin, "I want someone to watch over him and see if he'll have anymore episodes in the next few hours or the following day."

Jin nodded. "I'll watch over him."

Tala tilted Link's head back and poured some of the liquid inside the jar between his lips. The taste was cool and sweet against his tongue. Once she was finished, she left the room while Dira and Jin helped Link to his feet. They followed Tala into the next room where she gave Jin three thin vials.

"Mix these within the jar and the concoction should last several days. Give them to him in the morning and at night. If these episodes persist, I do suggest an extra dose, but if he becomes unresponsive for a long period of time. Bring him back to me."

Jin nodded, pocketing the vials, and leading Link from the home with Dira and Keras.

"I don't like this," Dira said, caressing Link's knuckles. "He hasn't said anything since we left Fado."

"I know," Keras whispered. "I know."

"We'll wait and see," Jin said. But none of them sounded as reassuring in Link's ears, they simply drew quiet.

They walked back to Link's home where Dira and Keras left them. Jin helped him into the house where he set Link down in his nook area before going to the kitchen and making cups of tea. He also made a sandwich and brought it to Link who stayed still, staring at the bookshelf across from him.

"I'm here," Jin whispers, taking Link's hand. "I won't leave you."

Link blinked his eyes, but he did not hear Jin's words. Instead his mind replayed a scene that was foreign to him. A scene that left him crippled in pain as a boy holding a sword bestowed upon him in his small woodland village. The world spun and he was in a place after she was taken from him. The water was ice cold and he slipped every time he tried moving along the iceberg in her domain, and Link called her name out.

"Ruto!"

But his voice split between two, a young boy with pain too much for a child to bear, and a young adult who was left in charge of a princess, but the softness of the Zora who returned to her home only to die to the beast she commanded.

His scream echoed when the memories returned, and what fate had stolen from the world. "Mipha!"

He had fallen to his knees in grief for both who he loved, the panic that made him fight back the tears and swing his sword. The frustration that he couldn't do anything at the time of when they were outmatched. Friendship spiraled around him, and he recalled their smiles that was taken away. They all had a role to play, a responsibility woven in their destinies that were rewritten over and over again upon time itself.

"Link?" Jin's voice grew in fear and shock when Link felt his body jerk forward and he landed on the floor. The cup of tea and the sandwich were silent in his ears when they landed before him. A pained gasp leaving his lips as he tried fighting back the harsh cutting memories, but he was pulled under once more before he could feel Jin's hands on his arms.

What he witnessed next were foreign memories like the others, but this didn't feel as familiar. They were new. Brand new memories that left a painful ache within his chest. His eyes opened, and the flash of lightning cascaded through the darkening sky as rain drenched the ground around him, soaking his clothes, and his hair slick against this face.

He heard a scream through the chaos and he looked for who called his name. Dira stood against a rock. She wore dark blue and black scaled armor that wrapped around her body with arm guards over her hands and a fish designed helmet covering her head. She held a long black bow and a silver quiver strapped to her back. She pulled at the string, and at the tip of the arrow glowed a faint light as Dira whispered to it, and the arrowhead became encased in thick sharp ice.

Link looked to where she was shooting, but all he could see was darkness, flashes of electricity, and ice.

"Link," Jin whispered, his hand holding Link's waist, keeping him close. "Stay done until they can get to us, and Keras can—"

"What?" he asked, and his voice was far away, but his eyes went to Keras who was in the center of the battle, swinging her dual scimitar at monsters forming from the shadows. She was dressed in red and browns, skin exposed and seared shut with new and old scars. The lightning danced around her as she spun and sliced through the creatures. Dark blood sank into the earth as she drew close. Dira flanked her, shooting any monster that tried attacking Keras without her knowing their presence.

Link tried moving, but Jin held him still. And he felt a sharp pain in his gut and looked down where he spotted dark red slithered along grass and dirt coming from beneath him.

 _I'm bleeding._

Link blinked water from his eyes as his breath hitched. Jin pulled him up, and he winced, a pained groan leaving his lips, but Jin situated Link against his chest with his arms tightening around him.

"It's okay. Keras is coming, she'll heal you. She'll heal you," he whispered in a heavy mantra.

Link didn't know what was happening, but he recognized one thing from the chaos around him. It was the thing he wouldn't let go, and knew wouldn't leave him even if he tried throwing it into the ocean, or burning it into melting steel. It would come back to him, because it was his, and only his to own, to wield, to control.

The sword.

The grip was blue and green, and long silver steel that pulsed with light that was covered in red and black blood. He had taken it from the pedestal, and never was he separated from its power that told him this is who he was.

But Link didn't know, and he was weary, and he closed his eyes to the torment of his fate.


	5. Ingrained Memory

He gasped, body shuddering as he sat up in the dim lit room, glancing everywhere for a speck of light. He heard the faintest sound and looked to see Jin lying beside him. He recognized where he was, they were lying in his nook area of his home.

How? How did he get here?

He recalled the spilled tea and sandwich, and the memories flooded back to him. He was trapped within his own body, trying his hardest to fight back, but he couldn't.

"Link?" Jin murmured, blinking his eyes. "What's wrong?"

"I'm fine," he answered, hoping he sounded convincing.

Jin, however, sat up, yawning. "Do you want some tea?" he asked, flipping the blankets on his side and got up, stretching.

Link watched, blankly. "Sure."

Jin walked into the kitchen, burned a lantern to give them light and started to make the tea.

Link stayed sitting on the bench in the nook, the soft pillows had kept his body from aching. But it didn't help that he was confused and his forehead was throbbing.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Jin asked, walking over to him with the finished cup of tea. He held it as he sat down, but Link couldn't express the dream he experienced. Or even the loss of time he couldn't explain.

He finally got a hold of himself and told Jin everything about what he had dreamed. Jin watched him, listening patiently.

"It was mine," Link said, shock rippling through his body, reaching his hand out as if he could feel the hilt. "It was mine. The sword."

"Link," Jin said, calmly, "it was only a dream."

He wanted to believe that, but it didn't feel like a dream. It was real. He knew it was real, he wanted to find the sword, and his heart was pained by the thought of it. He dropped his hand and Jin passed him the cup of tea.

Link drank the tea slowly and looked to the window, the sun was rising and he realized it was morning. It felt like the dark was melting into the room, and wrapping around him. When he finished the tea, he rose and passed it to Jin who placed it into the sink.

"You scared us," Jin said, leaning against the counter, "we weren't sure what was happening. And when you fell," he glanced toward the nook, "I didn't know how to handle it besides pull you back up."

Link nodded. "I'm sorry."

A knock at the door made him suck in a breath, he glanced at Jin before he went to answer it. He was mildly surprised to see Keras and Dira. They were both staring at him as if they never seen him before. He figured it had to do with yesterday and he didn't blame them.

"Lok is taking the younger kids," Dira began, her voice smoothed out, "horseback riding."

"And he said we can ride without babysitting," Keras finished.

"Do you two want to come with us?" Dira asked, looking between Link and Jin.

Horseback riding. He was afraid of those memories assaulting him again if he ever got near a horse. The one that stayed with him was like a precious treasure he wasn't ready to let go of.

Except he can't live like this for too long. His mind, a shroud of memory of impossible things, can only hold so much. Even if the confusion numbed his body and made him question himself.

"We'll go," Link said as Jin joined them in the doorway.

"Are you sure?" Jin asked, frowning at him. "A lot happened, what if something else—"

"No," Link said, "it's fine, I'm fine. I just need something to take my mind off things."

Jin was uncertain and nodded toward Keras and Dira. "Okay. We'll be right out." They both nodded as Jin closed the door while Link was heading upstairs. "I think this is a bad idea."

"I don't," Link said, taking off his shirt and dropping it on the floor.

"Link," Jin whispered, and Link can feel him standing behind him by the stairs while he rummaged through his drawer, "the incidents are persistent."

Link turned around and faced Jin who was holding his discarded shirt. "That's why I think I should do something active, find a way to combat what is happening to me. Maybe it'll go away." He pulled on his shirt and walked toward Jin, taking the shirt from his hands and throwing it on his bed. "It'll be fun."

His friend sighed. "Fine. But I don't think this is the last of what is happening to you."

And that's why he has to find a way to get over his dreams. He and Jin descended the stairs and headed for the door. Jin pulled on his shirt over the thinner one he wore for bed and followed Link as he opened the door.

Dira and Keras were waiting at the bottom of the stairs, both of them glancing up at Jin and Link. "Come on, the others should already be heading out of the village," Dira said, she and Keras began to walk toward the pathway into the village.

"I never ridden a horse before," Link told Jin.

Jin chuckled. "Probably all that time at Lucent Lake instead of learning like you're supposed too."

Link wrinkled his nose. "That reminds me. I have to go fishing soon."

"I have some expertise with horseback riding, while you were off breaking pots and pranking the adults," Jin said.

"It was mandatory," Link remarked, "Dira and Keras also know how to ride a horse."

They looked toward the two women whom they followed through the village, they were talking to each other, and laughing. Conversations that weren't for their ears, at least not all of it.

"They're better than me," Jin commented.

"I'd rather be fishing instead of horseback riding," Link said, reminiscing of the silent moments when he held the rod and waited. The anticipation was clear on his mind and he hoped for one of the fish to bite. The adults were always betting on who would get the biggest fish. They were more talkative than he was, and he liked to listen to the constant gossip they'd have.

"Maybe you'll learn something," Jin said, wrapping an arm around Link's neck, his body warm against his.

"Let's hope so," Link said.

As they were leaving Akyllan, Link couldn't help but have small snippets of memory forming in his mind. Jin had pulled his arm away, and was talking more about Lok's horses, but there was something on Link's mind that wouldn't let him focus.

 _I can do better. I can do better. Let me have a day without this._

Dira and Keras jogged down the path while Jin grasped Link's arm and pulled him along. They were heading for Hyrule Plains where Lok had brought four horses that were already fitted with saddles and reins. He was talking to a few of the younger kids about how to ride a horse, and what they're supposed to do once the horse went faster and how to slow the horse down.

Dira pulled herself on one of the horses, holding the reins and galloping into the field basked in warm sunlight. Keras was next, her long red hair flowed behind her as she went after Dira.

Link spotted Paka amongst the children, making sure they didn't run off. He noted Paka glancing up, and her entire demeanor shifted when she spotted Jin.

"Come on, Link, I can teach you how to do this," Jin said, pulling Link toward the horse.

Link smiled nervously. "I don't know about this."

Jin chuckled. "Just climb on."

Link flexed his fingers before pulling himself onto the saddle, his hands shaking as he gripped the reins. Jin was talking to him, but the memory formed in his head, something close to the horse that he knew and plagued him with memory he wasn't sure if it was his. Beautiful and fast, the horse listened to him as he spoke to her, she always seemed to find him whenever he was in turmoil.

"Link!" Jin called, eyes wide as he raised his hand, but he was a blur as Link gripped the reins, pushed his feet into the horse and told it to run.

It was freedom. A sense of it filling his chest, making him smile as he let the memory overwhelm him. Link passed Dira and Keras, hearing their voices, but blocked it out at the feeling of Epona and the sun's warmth.

He and the horse were close to Fado Lake, but he turned the horse around and they raced back towards the others. He slowed the horse's pace until the horse trotted towards his friends who stared at him with astonishment, including Lok.

The man had greyish brown eyes, broad shoulders with sunkissed skin. He walked towards Link as the horse came to a stop, Jin, Dira, and Keras gaped at him. Even Paka had furrowed brows and wearing a frown.

"How did you do that?" Lok asked as Link slid off the horse.

"Do what?" Link asked, smiling at the kids following behind Lok. They were smiling and gaping at him, a sparkle of admiration in their eyes.

"I haven't taught you," Lok clarified, staring strangely at Link, "I've never seen you get on a horse nor attempt to ride one before. You must've truly learned from someone," he turned towards Jin, Dira, and Keras.

"No," Link said, shaking his head. "They never taught me, I'd rather fish."

"Then how?" Lok asked, and his astonishment was twisting to disbelief.

Jin walked over to them, grabbing Link's arm. "Beginner's luck?" he said, nervously laughing as he pulled Link toward Dira and Keras.

 _Link._

He blinked at the soft voice, glancing around but there was no one else looking at him.

 _Link._

He looked to the sky and his eyes widened at the blacken clouds forming and blocked out the sun. He breathed hard, stopping Jin from walking, unable to look away from what he was seeing. Harsh ran fell upon the land, a blanket of it moving towards him as three bright lights broke through the darkness.

Red, blue, and green.

Those lights were women in the color of gold as they formed something within the sky. Bright light and what came of it was a gigantic golden triangle of pure energy. He recognized the shape, knew it well since it was all over Hyrule. It was the crest, the Triforce.

The three bright lights circled the Triforce while a light pushed back the clouds and what he saw was not the sun. It was a being of pure light, their body obscured as he stumbled back, sucking in a breath.

 _Link, you are chosen, awaken from your slumbering form._

His right hand burned as he pushed Jin away. He fell to his knees, gasping for air as the lights faded away, and darkness enveloped his eyes. He landed on the grass, the smell of it reminding him of her.

* * *

 **Notes:** I know I should be writing this a bit more faster than I normally do, but I'm still outlining. :)

Reviews are appreciated. No flames or bashing please.


	6. Fishing For Unpleasant Memories

_The Hero is sleeping once more. The Hero is sleeping once more. The Hero is sleeping once more. The Hero is awakening once more. The Hero is awakening once more. The Hero is awake. The Hero is awake. He's awake. Awake. Awake. Awake. The Hero is awake to free us._

He roamed upon green prairies, through the tangle of trees and silence with the occasional faint echoes of twinkling laughter. He trudged into bitter snow upon high peaks, and his feet sinking into hot sand with sweat on his brow. He sat against a tree, eating a sweet apple, gazing at the ruined Kingdom with an empty throne.

The voice sang against his ears, reminding him of his fortune, yet all he could think of was the next grueling days where he'd find himself within an old cavern, or damp stained dungeon crawling with enemies. There were signs of the Royal Family's dark heritage, yet the secrets have been spoiled rotten in the dark crevice between grime and blood.

When would it end, he'd ask himself, massaging his sore muscles and cleaning his festering wounds. Fevers would be pushed to the side by tonics he'd drink, curled in the cold dark where only the silence to offer company. He did not want this, but he was always reminded of who he is and who he'll become.

He shook his head, throat dry as he wiped away a tear. "I don't want this."

Link woke up in a soft bed in a silent room. He was comforted by the blankets that weren't a thin cloak he'd wear on his journey. It took time for him to figure out where he was and who he was exactly. He sat up, rubbing the side of his head, and there was no sign of pain all over his body.

It took time for him to figure it out, but the timelines smoothed away, and he was able to see his own. He knew who he was and where he was, and what had happened. A great light shone from the blue sky and the Goddesses created the world, setting the pieces together until the last who held the Blade of Evil's Bane offered it to the pedestal for the one who was meant to wield it.

Link squeezed his eyes, covering his face with his hands and letting out deep breaths to calm his frazzled nerves. Was he truly losing his mind to the rapid thoughts he's been experiencing? Were they even his own to consider, but possibly someone else's that found its way inside of him. It seemed right and wrong, a tangle of complicated decisions that he wasn't ready for.

He pulled the blanket off of him and stood up, letting out a yawn and stretching his limbs. He wore simple shorts and a t-shirt and found the rest of his clothes on the chair at the end of the bed. He picked them up and changed, and once he pulled his shoes on, he left the room.

He recognized Tala who stood at the end of the room, she was slightly hidden by a white sheet and was speaking to someone. Link quietly moved toward the front door of the inn, and stepped outside. The village itself was warm with people and it felt more like nothing had changed since he woke up. He didn't even know how long it's been.

Link walked down the steps, but before he could head home and change his clothes. Dira came into his line of sight several feet away from him, her eyes widened and she was gaping at him before sprinting over to him.

"You're awake," she said, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. He gritted his teeth at how hard she was holding him as he let out a low grunt before she let go. "Why are you awake?" she gazed all over his body as if looking for some kind of anomaly.

"I'm not supposed too?" he asked, finding her inspection funny.

Her eyes met his as she gave a quick nod. "You were sleeping for several weeks, Link. We figured you were in some kind of coma, and Tala said you were, but I was a little skeptical, and now you're awake. But Tala also said she wasn't sure when you'd wake up. No one knew what had happened, you were fine and then you weren't. We were worried."

"Yeah," Link said, scratching the back of his head, feeling awkward, "I'm sorry, I don't know what happened either."

She furrowed her brows, frowning. "You were saying people's names in your dreams, and...none of us knew who you were talking too. It was all so jumbled up and confusing."

He didn't know either. He recalled the many types of dreams he wandered into while he slept, but they were hazy and incomplete. He could barely understand them.

"I'm sorry. The thing is, the dreams were…" and he decided to explain to her about what he seen. She led him toward a shop where they grabbed something to eat and sat down on some stones by a river in the village. The wind was brisk and cooled his body, relaxing him as he tried to explain everything he had dreamed of to her.

Dira nodded, listening to every word.

"They seem like memories," he tells her, finishing the last of his food, "and they don't seem like mine." Saying that seemed impossible, and he could hardly believe it himself, yet it felt true to him. "But I'm also sure...that they're mine as well. All twisted and intertwined together. I can't seem to untangle them."

"That's troubling, Link," Dira says, placing a hand on his own, "if you need more time in Tala's inn, you can stay there, it would be better without any other type of pressure. Maybe it'll all go away eventually."

He wasn't sure if they would. It was hard enough trying to remember his own past without thinking of others like his own, yet the ages were contradicting with his own, including the pain they went through, the happiness that filled their chests, and the final outcomes that led to another to live a life that seemed more like a cycle. An unending cycle that replayed over and over again.

There was even a few who were older that knew the truth and were cruelly disgusted with their fate. Some wished they could dissemble it completely, but others would longingly fade away, knowing they could do nothing about it.

He didn't know why he felt it, nor why he had to deal with it all at the same time. A past that was not his own, yet tied with his nonetheless. He's afraid, which he couldn't confess to Dira, that he'd eventually understand those who lived before him, what they went through, and he'd curse the one who gave them this continuous path.

"You know what," Dira said, helping Link to his feet and smiling, "I think we should get all those thoughts out of your head."

He raised his brows, interested in her proposal. "And how are we going to do that?"

Dira beamed as she said, "Fishing!" She took his hand and dragged him off down the road. "My aunt, Aya, and Keras's sister, Laret, are with Aloane, Una, Boros, Rikh, and Cil at Lucent Lake."

Lucent Lake was on the opposite end of the village and sat around a set of trees, wide enough for them to fish with several shallow rivers leading off toward other lakes in Hyrule. This one was simply easy to use and there were a lot of fish to collect for certain seasons that would come and go. The village never suffered from any famines, and the people were happy with what they had.

"Where's Keras?" he asked, knowing she and Dira were practically inseparable since childhood. Both of them opposite of each other, yet they never clashed in fights, and were quite civil to each other.

"Helping her parents in the shop," Dira answered.

He notices several villagers staring at him, they must've heard what happened out in Hyrule Plains. Not like that kind of incident would go unnoticed by anyone, not when he had fallen unconscious.

"What about Jin?" he asked, surprised he hadn't seen him yet. Although, Jin also had his fair share of friends, so it wasn't fair that Link would expect him to always be at his side, also he seemed to gain the attention of a lot of people their age throughout the village. Maybe he was simply busy.

"Last I heard," Dira said, "he went out hunting, but I'm not sure if he returned yet."

Link hummed as they wandered through the narrow pathways from the village, Dira slowing her pace as they drew close to Lucent Lake as the strange smell of brine rose with each step they took until finally they caught sight of a group sitting on the pier's edge.

"Hey," Dira called, "guess who woke up!"

Most of them turned around, but Link caught sight of Jin sitting beside Rikh, holding his own fishing rod, his dark hair was pushed back and Jin seemed surprised to see him before his eyes went down to Dira's hand clasped around Link's wrist, his brows furrowed at the sight.

"Whoa," Cil said in astonishment, a white haired man with bushy brows, a bit older than the rest of them, and a lot more proficient at hunting wild deer and boar than at fish. "Little Link, you're awake."

Link shook Dira's hand from his wrist and frowned at the nickname. "I'm not little."

"Thought you'd never wake," Rikh said, leaning back on one bony arm, his white hair was also pushed back, spiky at the top, while a trimmed mustache sat around his mouth, he was thinner than the rest of them, and barely did much in the village besides offer terrible advice, and fish apparently. "I did tell Tala to give you a good ol' fish concoction of mine, but she never took the bite." He chuckled, turning back to his fishing rod.

Link wrinkled his nose. "That sounds disgusting."

"When did you wake?" Una asked, smiling up at him, she sat beside Boro's, and her hair was long and dark with brown skin, she seemed to have caught more fish than the others, and she was always found smiling and it was rare to see her cry.

"Not long ago," Dira said, picking up two extra fishing rods that were beside Una's basket and passing one to Link. "He walked out of Tala's inn, and I saw him. I was so surprised. Making us worry and all."

"I wasn't that worried," Boros' said, a brute of a man with wide shoulders and thick black hair, he gave Link a smirk before turning back to the lake and the fish that weren't going near his hook.

Link knelt down and looked through the bait box and picked one and pushed it onto his hook. "How long have you been here?" he asked, sitting beside Dira who was next to Una.

"Not too long," Aloane said, her red hair was tied in a tight bun at the back of her head, a bead of sweat trailed down her brown skin as she pulled on her rod, reeling in the caught fish, before grinning at Boros who gave her a sarcastic sneer. "Come on, Boros, it's been over two hours. Catch one or leave."

"I'll catch one," he said, determined.

Laret leaned back to look at Dira, her red hair was cut unlike her younger sister's, but she wore a lot more makeup. "Did you check in with Keras?"

Dira shrugged. "She seemed fine working the shop today. You know, Keras, she ain't going to complain."

Laret frowned. "It always feels wrong not working when you've worked for so long."

Rikh scoffed, gaining a glare from Laret. "Come on, working is terrible, I'd rather be here, catching my fill and—"

"What?" Laret asked, a smirk rose to her lips, "and cook up those fish _concoctions_? Bah. Don't lie, Rikh, all you'd do is sleep. I'm surprised you still haven't owed back Vin the rent for your house."

"House?" Dira asked in disbelief, "you call that a house. Looks more like a rats nest."

Rikh's face flushed. "Quit ganging up on me! Why aren't you men helping me out?"

"With what?" Jin asked, somber toned, "they're right, you haven't given Vin anything since the time you last worked for him, which was almost a year ago."

"Also," Boros continued, "your house _is_ a rat's nest, let's not deny that."

Link smiled quietly to himself. He liked this, the rambles of his friends and the anticipation of catching a fish in the late afternoon. This was a lot better than what he had to deal with before. The memories maybe under the surface, and some flickered before his eyes, events of the same thing he was doing now. They enjoyed lazy afternoons as much as he did, and he knew he wasn't so different as they were. Strange versions of him, all living the same lives, taking the same steps.

He didn't want this to end, but he knew that it would, because they all were whisked away from their home and forced on a journey to save their land, and its princess. Duty and courage kept them on their feet. Would he feel that same feeling one day?

"I was going to ask," Boros said after Rikh had gone quiet, "about your sudden skill in horseback riding."

Link clenched his teeth at the topic, his heart racing at the answer he'd have to give. He could scarcely believe it himself.

"I…" Link said, swallowing his nerves, "never rode a horse before." Cil and Rikh both laughed at the same time, scaring off several hidden birds in the trees with their echo. Link tightened his hold on the fishing rod, staring at the hook and the fish that swam around it.

"Don't lie," Cil said, meeting Link's eyes, "you had to have rode one. Lok was astonished, but he was convinced you lied."

"I didn't."

"You had to have help to gain that much experience," Rikh said, pulling on his rod once a fish caught his hook, he reeled it in, gritting his teeth and almost pushing Jin to the side against Aya.

Link shook his head, his hand loosening on the rod. "I...didn't have any help."

"Trust me," Jin said, shoving Rikh to the side once he reeled in the fish, "I've hung out with Link all his life, and I never seen him once get onto a horse—"

"Except that one time," Dira said, glancing back at him, "but we were all around the ages of ten, and since then, he has never tried to get on one, he'd rather be here."

"With the bunch of you judgmental fools," Jin finished.

Aya hummed, puzzled. "Must be beginners luck then."

Link wanted to believe that, but he couldn't, not when everything had come back to him. All the images, memories, voices, and experiences he knew was too strange to consider it beginners luck. This was more bizarre than he could anticipate. And in some way, he knew the answer, but he couldn't speak it.

"Why did you collapse after?" Una asked, glancing at Link, "Lok said you fainted...and he figured you were coming down with something, but from what you've told us," she addressed Dira before making eye contact with Link, "you aren't sick with anything."

Link shook his head. After the memories collided with his own reality, his own vision would go black, and his body would feel weak. He'd fall unconscious until an indeterminate time.

"I was thinking maybe it could be connected to The Ancient Scourge," Una considered, pulling on her rod and reeling in the fish while the rest of the group had gone silent, mostly Aya and Dira.

Link sneaked a glance at Dira, who wore a placid expression as she stared at the greenish blue water as fish darted in and out of its depths. He knew the topic was sensitive all these years, and she wore the necklace she had thrown into Fado Lake that he and Jin retrieved. The necklace of their sister Nila who caught The Ancient Scourge and died.

A sickness that has been recorded for over centuries and centuries without a known cause. It comes for several years, kills crops, animals, and people alike, before vanishing from the land. It was horrendous.

"A lot of people died because of The Ancient Scourge," Laret said, giving Una a disapproving glance, "and whatever is happening to Link is not because of that."

Aloane nodded solemnly. "Even though many have died, it's still a tragedy to consider. Memory is fickle thing."

Link's heart races and he clutches the front of his tunic. Dira notices and says his name, but he squeezes his eyes shut and when he opens them. He's panting low, exhaustion heavy upon his sore shoulders where wounds have been cauterized, and his green clothes needed mending and soaked in water to rid the blood that stained the fabric.

There's anger in his body, pushing him along the dirt path as the heat poured down upon him as he gripped the handle of his sword. It pulsed with a quiet voice that he ignored over the years. Not even its comforting tone could help him stop the raw pain he has felt for many years now that he's older, grown in a body he once knew when he was young.

Words were never uttered from his lips, small grunts and groans were all that passed through them. But years have taught him to stay quiet with his pain, and he had pushed them down to ease anyone's worry for him. It would do nothing but make him worry for something that would happen again in another lifetime.

He made sure the direction was right when he came upon the farm house he had visited many times over the years. Of a ray of light that guided him to her doorstep, the one voice he wanted to hear besides the screaming of his enemies, and the yelps of fear from innocent folk.

His horse is nowhere in sight as he collapses to his knees onto the hard soil. His vision slowly fades, but he sees her red hair shining in the morning sun, her eyes wide in horror as she calls his name, the voice he would crawl for, the one he would return too once he knows he could put his sword away.

He falls to the ground as her scream fills his head.

"Link!"

He gasps, a hand on his arm with Dira saying his name, but he's staring ahead of him with his heart racing inside his head. An innate instinct makes him get to his feet, almost staring at the people, unsure of who they are as he shakes his head.

"Malon!" And he turns and runs along the pier, ignoring the others who call his name. The memory continues as he sprints away, the voices fading.

"It's okay," she said, holding him in her arms, a tear running down her face, "Ingo is coming with my father, we'll get you back into the farm—" The memory switches to Link lying in a soft bed that feels foreign to him, a cloth is placed on his fevered forehead, his clothes were removed, and there were bandages covering his body where the wounds were.

Link runs past villagers, all of them shocked at the sight of him but he could barely recall what their names are. All he could think of was the girl, the room, and everything he once knew was splintering apart. He runs to his house, up the stairs to the door where he pushed it open and slams it shut behind him.

He stumbles back until his back hits the door, gasping as he slides down to the floor. His entire body shaking with exertion, he curls his fingers in his dusty blond hair and squeezes his eyes shut as another memory floods his head.

The girl is sitting on a chair before him, cleaning a wound on his face, it stings and she gives a nervous laugh. Her eyes are red from crying. She's sad, he knows she is. He once told her he would be careful and he'd return to her, but this probably wasn't what she was talking about.

She moves her fingers along his blond hair and it feels so nice. She's speaking, but he can barely focus on the words until it clears and he knows.

"Link, where is Epona? She wasn't with you when you...arrived."

Link tenses, spasms as he lets out a yell that startles her, but he's crying, and the tears are running down his face. And she wraps her arms around him, bringing him to her chest, his fingers are digging into her shirt as he lets out harsh cries.

He feels her place a kiss to his damp forehead, comforting him with promises he wasn't sure she'd keep.

"Once you're well, we'll go out and look for her," she said, whispering into his hair, and he hears her own cries making their way into her throat.

Link gasps from his own tears as he's pulled away from the memory. He wasn't aware that he had climbed the steps to the second floor and flopped down onto his bed, wrapping his arms around his pillow, crying into the fabric.

"I'll find you," he whispers, gasping for more air as more tears trail from his face, "I'll find you, Epona, I'll find you, I promise, I'll find you. Please, wait for me to find you, Epona." He promised, he hoped he could keep it, the pain was too much without her, and sleep was slowly taking him under as his body relaxed.

"I promise, in any lifetime, in any era, I'll find you."


	7. Worried of A Friend's Fate

_**Notes:** This is Jin's POV. There will be chapters with OC's POV's besides Links._

* * *

Jin stood in front of Link's home the following day after his outburst at Lucent Lake. He was a little nervous, but after Dira, Una, and Aya tried to get him out of the house and eventually failed, Dira convinced him that Link would listen to him. He wasn't so sure about that, but lately he was thinking that Link needed time alone. Maybe he was simply stressed, but Una's comment about The Ancient Scourge found its way into his head. He couldn't think so negatively.

Shaking it away, Jin climbed the steps to the front door and rapped his knuckles against the hard surface. He cleared his throat and said, "Link. Are you there? It's me, Jin...it's only me."

He was afraid he might not get an answer until he heard the slightest sound of metal sliding loose and the knob turning. He tilted his head as the door opened, and Link glanced at him.

His eyes were red, and his face was a lot more pale than the sun kissed complexion he usually had. There was something more draining about his appearance as he ran his fingers through his coarse hair, walking away from the opened door as Jin stepped inside.

"Link," Jin said, closing the door behind him, but was confused at the sight of a bag sitting on the table, it was full with pieces of clothing and wrapped food. "Link...Where are you going?"

"I have to find her," Link said, his tone rough, either from crying or screaming like he was doing yesterday and the days before. His behavior has been strange of late, but this was worse than anything Jin would have thought was possible. "I have to find her."

"What are you talking about?" Jin asked, carefully stepping closer to the bag while Link looked around for something near his nook.

"Epona," Link gasped, going still before his shoulder shuddered as if whatever he was thinking of was too painful. It worried Jin to see him like this, and to know that his friend was about to walk out while spouting off words he wasn't sure Link knew he understood himself.

"Link, that was a dream. Okay. You were dreaming, the stress is getting to you. I'll ask Vin and my dad to let you off for a few—"

"No," Link snapped, turning around, his brows pushed together as he glared at Jin, "this has nothing to do with them, I'm not stressed and it's not a dream. It's real," he shook his head, hands shaking, "she's real!"

He believed it. Jin could hear it in his strangled voice that Link knew whoever this person was to him is real, but how could it be? Link never left the village without others, and he never brought it up until a few days ago. Why would a dream be affecting him this much?

"Link," Jin said carefully, stepping towards him, "it was a dream, she's not real."

"No," he shook his head, "stop saying she's not real. Please, Jin, stop saying that." Link wiped away stray tears from his face. "She's real. She's real and I have to find her." He seemed to snap out of his reverie as he moved back over to his pack, ignoring Jin altogether who felt the sharp pain in his chest.

He nodded, unsure of how he was supposed to say to Link while he headed upstairs. His mouth had gone dry, and his chest hurt. Jin turned on his heel and left Link's house, he ran down the steps and sprinted through the village until he found Dira and Keras sitting on the steps of Keras's parents shop.

"Hey," he waved, knowing he looked wild by the worried looks upon their faces as they both stood, "I need your help."

"Why? What's happening?" Keras asked.

"Did you speak to Link?" Dira asked next, also as frantic as Jin.

Jin nodded, "I tried to talk him out of it, but he won't let me. I think he is sick with something, he's not thinking straight."

"Jin, calm down, and explain what is happening," Dira demanded.

He breathed, smoothing out his thoughts as he said, "Link is leaving Akyllan. He's trying to find someone by the name of Epona." The name left an odd taste in his mouth, but he didn't want to focus on that at the moment.

Keras's eyes widened as she looked over Jin's head. "I think he's on his way out." She pointed, and Jin turned at the same time as Dira, and Link was walking by several people with a cloak, traveling shoes that he barely wore since he never left the village that much, tan colored pants, and a long sleeved shirt. His pack was pulled over his shoulders and he was striding toward the entrance to Akyllan.

Dira was the first to react as she rushed by Jin who joined her, while Keras also caught up to them. Dira called Link's name, ignoring how loud and frantic she sounded as they sprinted by.

Link didn't stop nor turn until he reached the front of the entrance and before he could step over the threshold, Dira grabbed his arm and tugged him back.

"Don't go," she pleaded, a raw sounding tone that left Jin still beside Keras as reality was settling in. Link was truly trying to leave the village, and he wasn't bothering to look back. It pained Jin that it had to come to this because of Link's dreams, that they would mean nothing to him.

"I have to find her," Link said, in a resigned voice, unlike how he sounded back at his house. He was determined to leave, to find a ghost in the wide ruined world.

"She's not real," Dira said, her voice breaking, "please, Link, it was only a dream. Epona is not real. You're not going to find her!"

Jin can feel the change in the air. Many people behind them were watching the scene, and Jin didn't know what else to do. Dira was right, they were all right.

Link's steady shoulders began to shake, his fingers curling at his sides as they heard him gasping for air. "I have to find her, I have to find her." His own voice was broken, and Jin could see tears falling from his eyes as Dira turned him around and held him in her arms while he buried his face in her neck, shaking and crying.

Keras turned and gestured toward someone as she said, "Come help us take Link to Tala."

A man and woman that Jin recognized as Zakka and Leya stepped past him and came to Dira's side, they were speaking to Link before they took him and began to lead him away from the entrance. Zakka held his bag while Leya soothed him with her words.

Jin, Dira, and Keras slowly followed after them in silence while people parted away, children asked their parents what was happening, but most stared at Link. His condition, whatever it may be, was worsening. If it was forcing him to leave the village, what were they meant to do if he does eventually succeed?

Link has no prior skills in sword fighting, nor in hunting besides the minimal stuff he does with Zakka or Eirel. Lok has never trained him horseback riding. The world itself besides Akyllan and Fado Lake was all he knew. If he ever explored the world on his own, what if something were to happen to him? They couldn't let that happen, Jin didn't want it to happen.

A few days later, Link has stayed with Tala in a quarantined space to keep him from leaving the village. He still muttered Epona's name in his sleep, and screamed it when he woke up. Crying frantically whenever he spoke with Tala, and she told them it was all he could focus on. He was barely coherent when trying to remember any of their names, or even the village he lived in. Which horrified, Jin, Dira, and Keras.

Jin sat in the waiting room of the inn whenever his parents didn't need him, but other than that, he skipped out on any other duties. He wanted to make sure that Link was okay. Tala told him it was too early to let him in the room, not when Link was agitated. It was all he could do for him at the moment, hoping that he'd get better. Even if Tala said Link suffered from no physical sickness, and it could be related psychologically. The memories could be an emotional trauma of when Link lost his parents and it was now resurfacing as an adult.

"Time will tell," she said, before moving onto her next patient.

One particular evening when Dira and Keras joined him, they brought berries they had picked that afternoon and shared it with him. As they waited, a woman wandered into the inn, there was something studious about her, some kind of knowledge poured off her, as if her eyes could see and understand more than any of them ever could.

Of course it was probably because she was Impa, the village Sheikah leader who had let many Hyrulean's to accommodate the village during The Ancient Scourge. Impa was revered by many, using her wisdom and patience to conduct many organizations, and to sustain the village.

Tala bowed before her as Impa stepped away from the door. "I didn't know you were going to come here, I hope everything is okay."

Impa smiled, her long white hair was aged and looked more like coarse pieces of string as it was pulled back. Her hands were displayed in front of her, her back straight, and her chin tilted up. "Everything is fine, Tala. I'm here for someone else besides myself."

Tala's face flushed, "I see. Who are you looking for?"

"Link," Impa said.

Jin, Dira, and Keras were as shocked as Tala who glanced toward the hallway that led to the room where Link was in. Why did Impa of all people want to see Link? Was it because of how he was behaving for the last several days? Jin didn't think it was that troubling for the village leader to make an appearance.

"Why do you want to see him?" Dira interrupted as she stood from the chair. Both Jin and Keras were shocked by her abrupt question that it was too late to pull her back.

Impa turned to her, her face serene as she looked at Dira. "Because, Link speaks of the Legendary Hero's horse." Jin blinked, taken back by what she said and what she said next. "His horse is named Epona. Like the Legendary Hero who reveals himself once a great evil appears, so does his horse, Epona, and eventually they will find each other."

"No," Keras said, shaking her head, "you can't be serious?"

"I am," Impa said.

Any words that Jin would've liked to say would not leave his lips. Confusion stopped his thoughts, and he had the sudden urge to disagree with Impa like his friends were currently doing.

Tala had gone still, but came out of her shock before dropping a pen she was holding and heading for the hallway. Jin could hear Tala's hushed voice before she came running back into the foyer, her eyes wide, pointing down the hall.

"He's...He's gone."

"What?" Keras was already heading down the hall, while Dira glared at Tala. "Your inn is supposed to be secure, how could you let him escape?"

"He went through the ceiling somehow," Tala said, almost on the verge of crying.

Impa was patient throughout the entire chaos, but there was a hint if disappointment on her face.

Keras returned to the room, "We can probably catch up to him," she said, Dira following after her through the door.

Jin stayed where he was standing. He was trying to process everything that was happening, and mostly what Impa had said and implied.

The Legendary Hero. Garik had told many stories about him, and Jin ignored them as time went on and other things had distracted him from those silly stories. But now, they returned, and he wondered what if he had listened and learned about this Legendary Hero. What he did know and what most in Akyllan already knew about him was that the Legendary Hero had saved Hyrule many times in different eras with different ages. He showed himself in similar green garb, wielding a sword, riding a horse, and saving a princess of the Kingdom.

Now that Jin thought about it, there was no Princess who sat on the present Hyrulean throne, and no hero had surfaced in this lifetime, and the darkness, Jin figured that the darkness came in the form of The Ancient Scourge. The plague that surfaced without known reason and killed many in its wake.

The thing that bothered Jin the most as he walked outside, the one thing that ran through his head once Impa had asked for Link, and when she told them who the identity of Epona was. The pieces had collided, but there was one missing, and it was a crucial piece in this particular story, at least in this era it was.

"Where was their hero?"


	8. Escape to Lost Skills

Link stumbled down the stone walkway while holding a pair of brown boots he plucked from a stall. A dark blue cloak was pulled around his neck, a sloppy knot keeping it intact. He had to get away from Akyllan, even without his supplies, he had to do something besides being locked in one of Tala's rooms.

He spots Cil and Boros stopping near the entrance, both of them realizing where he's going, but unsure of what they're meant to do. He knew that the village must know what's happening, his own outbursts gained him more odd looks than the usual. It wasn't going to stop him.

Link almost fell as he pulled on the boots, grabbed a sturdy stick leaned against a wooden fence, it was smooth with a rounded top and he figured it was a walking stick or something to herd the sheep with. He shoved it into the ground as he ran, and pushed himself up into the air. A basic maneuver to get him higher since both Cil and Boros were taller and bulkier than him, and his feet landed on Boros' shoulders, hearing the clipped grunt from the man as he dropped the stick and shoved himself off where he landed on the ground. He didn't look back as he sprinted away, they yelled his name, but all he could see was the entrance.

Link stepped past the threshold, his heart racing inside his chest while his thoughts push him forward. He doesn't stop running until he veers to the far right, disappearing into the tangle of trees where he almost trips over a group of roots, while branches hit him in the face, leaving thin scratches on his face and hands, and he managed to scare off several boars. Slowing his pace, Link kneels down into some prickling bushes with soft leaves that hide his blond hair.

He calms himself down until his name is carried on the wind. Going still, the sound grows louder and soon the earth begins to thump and he knows that some of the villagers are on horses. He crawls through another set of bushes and lies down on his stomach, looking out to Hyrule Plains where he spots Jin, Dira, and Keras talking with a few of the older men and women, all of them on horses as they figure out which way he went.

He watches them as they leave the area, and Link stays in the bushes as long as he can until he knows for sure they aren't returning. He stays low as he moves through the trees, along a hill and down a path that leads him into another thick forest. He mostly spends his time listening to the wind, and the thump of the earth in case anyone is drawing closer.

He wasn't exactly a hunter like most were in the village, but he learned a bit from Zakka and Leya who were soldiers and hunters, including Boros who gave him a bit of instructions that he could barely remember about skinning animals, and Cil told him where to kill one so he didn't ruin the meat. Una gave him tips about the flora and fauna. What to eat and what not to eat while he was out in the wilds. Including what not to touch or smell.

It barely came back to him now that he was alone with no weapon. All he thought about when he stacked his bed against the wall and broke through the ceiling. It wasn't as reinforced as the walls or floors, and a bit of the wood was matte from a recent light rain, it was easier to crawl through without making too much noise.

He wouldn't deny that there was a small bit of guilt easing into his chest about running from his friends. He knew they were trying to help him, but they were also holding him back. The dreams were too chaotic, they forced him to run, spoke to him about Epona in a constant rhythm that made him lose control of his limbs. He needed to do this, with or without them.

Link traveled through the forests until finally he came upon a clearing, including a well used road leading toward a town. Arching his brows in surprise, he never truly left Akyllan, but he read maps with Jin and Dira while Keras explained to them about the surrounding towns.

This one was one of the closest to Akyllan. Probably a forty-five minutes away, which gave Link an estimate of how long he's been wandering through the forest, including an indication that his friends have already come to this particular town, and they weren't going to return now that they have.

Penrith. A small town with a few buildings, a wide tent looking thing with horses on the side in a stable, a few people lingered around it, while a group were talking over a fire pit with cooked fish and vegetables on a stick in the ground.

Link slowed his pace, staring with hunger, he placed a hand on his stomach when he felt it grumble before moving onward. He goes toward the bright red tent with wooden poles and looks inside. A woman and a man are sitting around a table, both eating soup and crackers with a cup of tea beside them, both were obviously travelers by the set of equipment stuck to their arms and the full bags sitting on the floor.

He was about to walk in when a sharp whistle stops him and he turns toward a man leaning his elbow on the desk, his dark brow arched, staring at Link. His face warmed by the hot sun, while his free hand holds a cup of water, finger tapping against the side.

"You got rupees?" he asked.

"Uh, no," he said, touching his pant pockets and frowned. He left everything back at Akyllan, and there was no way he was going back for any of it.

"No rupees, no bed," the man said, glancing away from him.

Disappointed, Link wanders away from the tent and marvels over the buildings with chipped paint, and the smell of fresh bread and cooked meat. A woman with long brown hair and dark skin was sweeping the front steps of her shop and looked at him, waving her hand at him, but he shook his head and all of her anticipation deflated.

Maybe it was a bad thing to come through a town with no rupees. He was exhausted, hungry and thirsty. He found a place in the shade of a building and laid down in the soft grass, letting out a yawn and gazing at the passing clouds. It seemed the moment he closed his eyes and fell into a deep slumber, he opened his eyes into another world. He climbed onto a horse under the noonday sun, his clothes have been cleaned and mended, while his sword was sharpened, and he was given a new bow and arrows to replace the ones he lost.

The woman, Malon, was already on her own horse and looked back at him and said, "We'll find Epona sooner or later." She gripped her reins. "She couldn't have gotten far."

He says nothing, staring at Malon and her sad yet hopeful smile. She was beautiful, and he was grateful for her help. Link joined her on the road, leaving the farm behind. Malon asking him to point where he last saw Epona, they'll search around and seek out her trail. Link's sword pulsed, but he ignored the urgent voice coming from it.

Link blinks his eyes open, his dream disturbed by the sudden prodding of something against his ribs. He furrows his brows, turning his head to the edge of a brown stick coming from a man hovering a foot from him. He looks curious of why Link is lying in the grass, and he notices the sky has yellowed with an orange undertone, barely engulfed by the night.

"What are you doing there, boy?" the man asked in a drawl. He had brown skin with amber eyes, his hair was a dark shade of red. He was a lot taller than Link who had stood from the flattened grass he was lying on, and wore a red scarf around his neck, blue, brown and black light armour and hunter garb. He had a sword on his back, including a black and silver bow, a full quiver of arrows.

Link wouldn't deny, but this man was beautiful and wore a stoic expression while looking down at him, waiting for his reply.

"I didn't have any rupees for the bed," Link explained, frowning, "so I figured I lie here until I woke up." He shrugged, wondering why it even mattered what he did. He was leaving Penrith after this.

"Daze," the man introduced, giving Link his hand to shake. "Are you hungry?"

Link gave him an awkward smile. "Yeah, oh, my name's Link."

Daze nodded, and led him down the road toward one of the firepits. Link didn't look at the man standing in the booth to the tent when he sat down on a small wooden stool. The man Daze had taken out pieces of caught fish and stuck a stick through it and set them down before the fire. He was quite practiced with the method, while Link wasn't sure how to do that exactly, he never went on camping trips outside of Akyllan either.

He didn't even know why this idea on leaving Akyllan even warranted besides an insistent need to leave. He had no prior knowledge of the outside world, and even if he pretended to know how to wield a sword, it didn't mean he was capable of killing.

"What are you doing without any armour or weapons?" Daze asked, glancing at Link's lack of equipment. He knew in his eyes he simply looked like a villager and not some kind of traveler or soldier.

Link squeezed his eyes shut at the sudden image of Epona. He knew the horses shade of color, felt the soft mane, and smiled when he fed her an apple. He cared for her and she had done the same. In all their journeys, they stayed with each other. It felt wrong being away for this long.

Link slowly opened his eyes, staring at the fire and the cooked fish His world slowed at the thought of her. "I'm looking for my horse," he told the man.

Daze chuckled at his answer as he turned their fish over so the other side could cook. "I'm doing the same."

"Where did you lose your horse?" Link asked, unsure of why he was asking while his mind kept going back to that moment when he lost Epona. The feeling of it eating himself up inside.

Daze hummed, he stayed quiet and Link was unsure if he was going to answer until he said, "In a fight." That wasn't what Link was expecting to hear, but Daze sounded revered of whatever memory had flooded back to him, there was pride in his voice, in his eyes that reflected the fire. "I'm hoping to relocate my horse, so I can have a proper rematch with my steed."

Link smiled, enjoying the raspy tone and the pride coming from the man, but his own memories flickered in and out of pain and happiness that he knew wasn't his own. "I never…" Link swallowed, and breathing evenly as he smiled, "owned a horse in my life, but I can't get this one horse out of my head. As if I know she exists besides the dreams I've been having, and it's disrupted a lot of my daily life in the past few days. I didn't know what else I was supposed to do but go out and find her. I need to find Epona."

Daze raised his head at the name that leaves Link's lips, and he stares at Link, before a smile pulls taut on his face "I hope you find her. It's beautiful when horses are on the same battlefield together." He picks up the stick and passes it to Link, making eye contact with him. "Maybe one day we can race."

Link takes the offered cooked fish, unsure of the proposal. "Maybe. One day."

By the time they finish, the night has barely crested the horizon, and Daze had taken out his bow and arrows and brought Link toward a shooting range near the edge of Penrith.

"You shouldn't be wandering by yourself without any prior skills," Daze had said, coaxing Link to stand beside him as he teaches him how to hold the bow, including how to hold the arrow and the string, when to pull, and when to let go. He was careful with his instructions, his voice next to Link's ear, his fingers warm on his own.

However, Link was still stuck between two worlds. Coming in and out of the other who already knew how to pull back an arrow, to hold a bow, who was quite precise in his aim. Many flickered in and out as Daze taught him what to do until he stepped away.

It's more like someone inhabited his body, took control of himself, and used the bow and arrow exactly the way Daze had taught him. The arrow flew, barely hitting the mark, Daze congratulated him as he passed him another arrow.

Link was quiet as he took the arrow, pulled back the string, and fired. With each hit, the arrow grew close to the bullseye, and as an hour drew by, Link was no longer focused on the target that he had mastered, and was now concentrating on the apples Daze was throwing into the air.

Daze laughed, enjoying himself while Link pulls back the last arrow and Daze throws the last apple high into the air. The darkness obscuring it, but he raised the bow, keeping the apple in sight, and releasing the arrow, hitting it before it could descend. He lowers the weapon as Daze strides over to him, a bright smile on the man's face.

"You're a prodigy," he states.

Link shrugs, staring down at the black and silver bow. "I never used one before...but practice usually helps."

"And it usually takes days, weeks or even months for one to master it so well," Daze says, placing a hand on Link's shoulder, "you mastered it right away, without fault. Your instructors back at home must be proud of you. I'm surprised you never wielded a weapon. Although leaving your village is unwise for someone who has never trained properly." Link passed him the bow and Daze inspected it. "I'm sure if you focused on your training for a week, you'll become a master in no time. At least gain the right skills to protect yourselves from enemies, they scour throughout the land, and they won't hesitate to attack."

Link nodded, feeling foolish that he bothered to leave his village without the right procedures. He should've thought about this with a clear mind than the one that clouded his judgement.

"Thanks, Daze, I'm glad I met you," Link said, knowing it was genuine. Out of anyone he would've met, he never thought he'd come across someone like Daze who didn't overly judge him for his rash decisions.

Daze nodded, he looked down at the bow and seemed to think before passing it to Link. "Take it."

Link blinked, his mouth parting as he held the bow. "Are you sure? Don't you need it?"

"I have a sword, and I'm sure I can get another bow and a set of quivers at a shop on my travels. But I think your quick display of skills earned a prize. I want you to head back to your village, gather what you need for your quest, and set out correctly." Daze gave him a pointed look. "A man like yourself is unlike most, someone with your skills are rare. Maybe a few centuries even."

Link chuckled. "Sounds more like an exaggeration."

"Maybe it is, but once I was like you as a youth, I trained as fast as I could, my own teachers were surprised by my determination, and if you keep at it, you'll surprise others too."

Link nodded, gripping the bow and thanking Daze for the lessons, including his encouragement.

"Link!" He turned at the sound of his name, and he and Daze spotted a group of Akyllan riders coming toward him, and he recognized most of them as his friends.

Dira, with her sheared white hair, slipped from her horse and sprinted towards him. She wrapped her arms around his neck, her body pressed into his. "We were worried about you, Link!"

"I'm...sorry," he said, noticing Jin and Keras were on the horses, both of them staring, but there was something peculiar about the way Keras was looking at Daze.

Dira pulled back, her worry changed into rage. Which wasn't new to him or anyone else, he saw the expected reactions from the others as her voice raised. "How could you do that, Link? Run off and leave us like that? Don't you think about how we feel?"

"I said I was sorry," he said, straightening, but knew his height and strength and new found skill wasn't going to hinder Dira's capabilities of questioning him, and making him feel guilty for his actions.

Before Dira could continue with her rant, Daze interrupted by tapping Link's shoulder. Dira glanced at him, her anger still flaring in her eyes, but there was something similar to Keras's reaction. Link was too distracted to wonder what it was.

"I hope we meet up soon," Daze said, smiling down at Link, "and we'll race once you find your horse."

Link's chest filled with hope and gratitude. All his friends told him Epona did not exist, and he had the urge to tell them even with his own doubts, that she was real. And now he met a man who believed him, even with the least knowledge of who Link was, it felt nice to be understood.

"It's a promise, one day we'll meet again with our horses." He waved as Daze walked away, and wondered while Dira dragged him back toward his friends whom were ready to return him to Tala's inn in Akyllan village if Link would ever see the man again. And why, in the splinter of all his memories and thoughts he went through, did the man seem oddly familiar.


	9. A Harrowing Revelation

There was no sugarcoating how angry his friends were, he walked in silence, holding the bow Daze gave him on their way back to Akyllan. Even when he tried going back to his house, Cil grabbed his arm and yanked him toward Tala's inn. The roads to her inn were empty of people, but he caught sight of several who stood on the porches and doorways of their homes, watching him as if he were some kind of committed criminal who escaped his cell.

At least that's how he felt once he stepped in front of Tala who stared at him, and there was something strange on her face, he caught sight of fear and reverence that wasn't there before. He knew when he was erratic, the dreams coming in and out, his mind not able to stay in the present without fighting back the pain he recalled, Tala was patient throughout the entire experience of calming him down.

Something changed, but he couldn't ask her any questions as Boros led him down the hall, but to another room. He even bothered to inform Link that the roof was now reinforced, and he took the bow Daze had given him. Link said nothing as he sat down on the bed, this one comfy and soft like the last.

Dira walked in while Boros stayed by the door. "Give me your shoes," she said, pointing at the boots he stole.

Link sighed and took them off, including the cloak, and passed them to her. She said nothing as she and Boros left the room. Link stared at the door while listening to the locks set in place. He laid down on the bed, his arms behind his head, and instead of staring at a bright blue sky and puffy clouds, he stared at a white ceiling.

He didn't mean to upset his friends, but his actions were inexcusable and he let their tempers and worry mix together. In a few days, maybe things will go back to normal. Tala will check him over, see that his behavior was fine, he had no other episodes since leaving Akyllan, at least none that Daze seemed to notice while he spoke to him.

They lessened, and that gave him hope he can hide it from the others.

Link closed his eyes and fell asleep. He was not plagued by any terrible dreams of a place he didn't know, nor of the woman with red hair. A knock at the door woke him up, and he blinked a few times, rubbing his eyes and looking to see a woman in white hair standing in the doorway. He knew her, and rarely seen her wandering the village. She was the Sheikah leader, the one who graciously let others into the Sheikah village during The Ancient Scourge.

Impa.

Link sat up, straightening his back as she sat down at the edge of the bed. She left the door open, but he was more focused on her serene expression upon him.

"Link," she said, "I know your confusion and your pain well."

That wasn't what he expected to hear coming from her. "What?"

"The memories," she clarified, and he opened his mouth, but she continued, "you no longer need to feel isolated from them, nor angry when experiencing them. You're frightened. That is true from your behavior of late, and why your friends wanted you to stay with Tala. It was right for you to not venture out while dealing with the affliction. It's better if you let it settle in your mind, accept it for what it is, and eventually, those memories will fade."

He was confused. Why was she talking to him as if she knew what he saw in his mind, in his dreams, what tormented him and pushed him to run from the village? Wasn't this dangerous?

"I'm hoping to ease your thoughts and the questions you have," she said, "there is a lot to explain and I'm glad they returned with you, and if you had wandered away from the village, you might've died in the process."

Link swallowed hard, his fingers twining together. He knew she was right, that he would've died without the proper training. He never meant to leave the village before this all began. He was happy staying in Akyllan with his friends. Spending his days there, but those images, those desires, they ruined his hopes.

Impa crossed her hands over the other in her lap. "I'm a reincarnation of Princess Zelda's handmaiden," she said, as calmly as anyone who could something like that without sounding insane, but he didn't find it as farfetched. "My family, the Sheikah tribe, have watched over the Royal Family for centuries, and their dark secrets. In this era, the Royal Family perished over a decade ago, and the princess vanished. I believe she is still alive, and you know this as well."

He didn't think about it until now. She was sure he felt this, and he was sure she was right. There was a small bit of hope inside of him that the princess was still alive. He was too preoccupied with other things to think about her, and of the Royal Family.

Impa glowed with hope as she said, "The memories you are experiencing is the ascension of the Legendary Hero. They are to help you along the way to your destiny, so you can accept what will come." Link opened his mouth, but no words left him, his eyes widened at what she said and he couldn't find a way to deny it. "You are that Legendary Hero, Link."

His mind had gone blank, and words wouldn't meet his shock. The memories didn't come to him during her entire explanation. What he was feeling was what they all had felt once when they learned the truth. Some didn't know, while a few were told. A flood of pain and regret filled his chest, a pain that made him groan and a flicker of worry crossed Impa's face, but Link was already shaking his head.

"No. You're wrong." He shook his head, his fingers curled into the front of his shirt. "Those are dreams, constant terrible dreams, they mean nothing."

"Epona," Impa says, stopping Link as he stares at her, shocked at hearing her name, "is the Legendary Hero's horse. Epona is reincarnated along with the Hero's spirit. They belong together, even if time separates you from yourself, you always end up finding her."

Was it true? He knew it was, an urge to hold onto that truth and cup it in his hands. Another part of him pushed it away, denying it entirely. A dream was a dream. Nothing more.

"It's a story," he told her, "a legend, a myth—"

"And all stories have a semblance of truth," she countered back, her tone firm and even, "the stories of the Hero have faded in and out of time itself throughout the centuries, but they have stayed in tact, hidden within those same stories, until the world is ready."

Ready for what?

"The Hero may have faded from time," she continued, "but he still resides to this land, a place he strives to protect, and it seems the Hero is ready to relive it."

Impa sounded sure of herself, proud even, and almost like Link was going to thank her for it. Except Link couldn't, the expectation of what she was saying instilled in him and forced him to recall the pain of others who lived like this. A few were sore from battle, from long travels, a few were tired and wanted to sleep, and waking always hurt. Hate wasn't new, but as years went on, and he aged and became bitter.

Link could barely ignore their suffocating feelings as his chest tightened, and he couldn't breathe. Impa rose from the bed, taken back by the reaction before calling Tala who raced into the room.

She soothed him, but he wasn't able to be consoled before she administered a sedative that forced him to calm down. Even how much he tried to fight it. Tala laid him down on the bed, while Impa stood in the doorway. Her expression solemn before disappearing down the hall.

Link's eyes fluttered and he let the sedative take hold of him, slipping him into a long needed sleep, but he did say her name.

Epona.


	10. A Long Dead Past With Dead Lovers

"I found them," Dira says, alerting Jin and Keras who were standing by the window they crawled through to get into the room. She held a leather book with the word RECORDS inscribed on the front and quietly placed it down on the desk, opening it up.

Jin was hesitant about the idea of sneaking into Impa's home while she was out, but Dira wanted to know more about what she had said about Link. He was also curious, and found himself watching their backs when Keras got the window open. The front door would be too obvious, and it was noticeable if anyone spotted them. They didn't want anyone to find out what they were doing.

Jin and Keras stand on either side of Dira who is focused on the pages she's skimming. They find pages with old pictures, yellowed, and burned on the edges, some were destroyed to the point they couldn't see what the picture consisted of. Most of them were of Hyrule castle, a young princess with the King and Queen. A young Impa standing with a group of people they figured were her family. She wore similar tight fitting clothes, a mask covering her face, and her white hair was tied to the back of her head. There were more of Impa as she grew over the years, age setting in, and soon the people in the pictures around her were diminishing.

It was hard to see how many had faded from the pictures, leaving herself, old and less determination in her eyes. The fire burned out, and she was standing in the now established Akyllan Village. The next few pictures of her were when she was a young adult and instead of her usual Shekiah clothing, Impa stood on the side of the Royal Guard, including the Family.

"She was highly respected," Dira said, picking up the picture. "Kakariko Village burned around the same time the Royal Family were murdered. She and the others had to move to another location, and they renamed the village, unable to give it the name of their ancestors." Dira set the picture back down and flipped page.

Oddly, there were pictures of a dark forest, even in the daylight where the picture had been taken, it seemed ominous.

Jin picked it up and turned it, black handwriting read LOST WOODS. He placed it down, and when Dira flipped the page, another picture, more enhanced and with less damaged yet aged on the sided sat in the center of the empty page. It was the picture of a pedestal surrounded by grass and a tree, and in the pedestal was a sword with a blue and purple handle.

Jin grasped the picture before Dira could flip the page. "I'm curious," he tells them, pocketing the picture, "I'm going to take it."

Dira said nothing as she continued to turn the pages until there was a yellowed photo, slightly burned on the edges. It was an old farm, burned to the ground. It was labeled with LON LON RANCH.

"Is this what we're looking for?" Keras asked, placing a finger on the picture.

Dira nodded, smoothing out the crinkled paper and read the writing on the right side. "The founders were Talon and…" She gasped, while Jin was as surprised to read the name as she was, "Malon." Dira picked up the picture and found another behind it, and when she revealed what it was, the three of them were shocked to see a beautiful young woman standing between two men, her bright waving red hair flowed down her shoulders, and she wore a simple farm dress, smiling at whoever was taking the picture itself. Dira turned it around and Malon's name was on the back.

The girl was Malon. The same name that Link yelled during the fishing trip back at Lucent Lake. Dira placed the photo back, and read the rest of the inscription.

"Malon inherited Lon Lon Ranch after her father, Talon, had died, including the co-owner, Ingo. She was married by then, with a few children, and her husband." Dira sighed. "Except her husband had gone to war, and he died."

There was no picture of the husband, but Jin figured what it meant, and who it was. A small bit of him didn't want to believe everything Link was saying for the past few days, nor Impa's clarification of Link's words that soon began to seem true in his word.

Jin also takes the photo, he stared at the three, but mostly at Malon. He had the subtle urge to crumple the paper and throw it into the fire. He yelled her name, he seemed almost shocked during whatever was bothering him.

Dira turned the page and there was another picture of Malon, except this time, she was younger and was caring for the horses in the ranch.

"Wait," Keras pointed at the inscription underneath the picture at Malon's name, including the horses she cared for during her time. And there was one name that was written in the page that was familiar to the three of them. "Is this who I think it is?"

Dira laughed, "This is Epona. She's real.

"Does that mean…" Jin began, uncertain as he looked at both Dira and Keras, "that Link IS the Hero?"

Keras furrowed her brows and thought about it. "If he's the Hero, than Malon must've been his wife at the time before he died."

An ugly twist contorted in Jin's stomach, wrapping around his heart and squeezed, at the same time, he had crumpled the picture of Malon in his hand.

"We have no other proof," Dira says, closing the RECORDS book, "Link could've seen these pictures and...made something up and the stress is getting to him, making him confused and spouting nonsense."

Keras shook her head, frowning at Dira. "No. I don't believe that. Link couldn't have seen these pictures when we are sneaking in the Village leader's own house and stealing photo's." She gave a pointed look at Jin who shrugged. "Also, the three of us know Link isn't like that. He grew out of stories awhile ago, he barely listens to Garik anymore. Why would he bother coming in here and reading about a past he doesn't care about?"

She was right, Link was too lazy to consider knowing about the past, and as far as these pictures have gone, why bother to even come in here?

Dira sighed, and crossed her arms. "Fine, you're right. But how are we going to explain what's been happening to him? We can't believe him to be sick, nor that he's...he's…" And before Dira could finish, they heard a loud commotion coming from outside, the floor beneath them rumbled as they put ran for the window they pried open and scrambled out of it.

The sounds became more pronounced as screams joined in, the clattering of growls and men and women yelling came to a frightening realization as they rushed to the front of the building.

Dira gasped, "We're being invaded!"

Keras was already heading down the road to help with the soldiers who pushing back the monsters that were coming through the entrance of Akyllan.

Jin stared, stunned by the sight, he shoved the photo's into his pockets and looked at Dira. "Go home and find a safe place to hi—"

"I am not hiding while our village is being terrorized!" Dira said, glaring at him.

"Fine, grab a weapon and fight them off!"

"Where are you going?" she called as he rushed the other way.

"Link!" he said without stopping, the inn was several houses away, and the monsters were growing in strength as all Jin heard was the sound of clashing metal and screams. He had to get to Link, he had to protect him. The knowledge of who Link was coming together, his past were scattered pieces of a past that was centuries old, mixed in with other people who Link learned to trust and fight alongside with.

And who Link could've loved in those time periods, but it didn't matter, not when danger was so close to him.


	11. Rightful Bearer Of Courage

Wide woodland area covered in a deep shade while sunlight streamed through branches and leaves. The smell of the wet soil, leaves, and dew hung throughout as he wandered barefoot along the trails of a place he called home. There's a mist surrounded him, and he walked through, leaving trails behind him before they're once again engulfed.

He spots something in the trees, a few in the grass, little woodland beings with a notable twinkling noise. He's never able to catch them, nor tell them to stop hiding, he only wants to see what they are.

He soon finds himself entering a clearing where the mist fades away and he brushes by long branches and wide leaves. Sunlight pours down on a pedestal surrounded by a set of ruins of an old building and in the pedestal was a rusted sword with a blue and purple handle.

He walks closer toward it and feels as if someone is watching him, and he looks up at a pair of eyes on a tree, a mouth set in a frown. He backs away, feeling an inkling of fear before he's reminded of who it is he's in front of.

The tree groans and opens its mouth to speak. "Greetings. My name is The Great Deku Tree."

He nodded, in awe of what he had come upon. "I've heard of you," he said, hearing the sound of his own voice, unlike the many times that were different in his _memories._ This time he was hearing his own. "In Garik's stories."

The Great Deku Tree groans, as if its stretching, and says, "Only the Hero can speak to my like this, speak in a dream between dreams."

Laughter fills Link's chest, relieved to hear the words spoken. "This a dream. None of this is real!"

"No," The Great Deku Tree said in an almost disappointed manner, "you are to truly awake to understand."

Link frowned, unsure of what he's meant to say about that. It lowered his own expectations as he looked down at his hands. He hadn't meant to come into a dream and be welcomed by a tree, but also disappoint it at the same time.

"The sword," The Great Deku Tree says, bringing Link out of his troubling thoughts, and Link looks down at the sword in the pedestal, it's peculiar and looks somehow ordinary yet ornate, he knows it's old, more than old, it was an ancient. "It has been calling for you."

"Me?" Link wondered, he had no urge to touch it.

"The sword is awaiting for its release from the Pedestal of Time. Except it can only be released by the Hero who bears crest of Courage." Link looked up at The Great Deku Tree, hearing its disappointed humm. "You do not bear it, not yet."

Confused, Link asked, "How do I—" And he was pulled away from the dream, The Great Deku Tree, the forest, the pedestal and the sword warped in his sight and he jolted awake by two hands grasping his arm, shaking him.

Jin's frantic expression is on his face, and the door to the room was wide open as if he had barged in and thrown it against the wall. "Link, Akyllan is in danger, we're under attack!" He grabbed Link's arm and dragged him from the bed. "We have to get you out of here, the inn is too close to the entrance, and the village is being filled with monsters."

Link follows Jin, noticing a lot of rooms were shut, and Tala was near the front door, she was holding a small knife and looking frazzled.

"Hurry," she said, "I have to barricade the door and make sure the other patients are safe."

Link and Jin nod as they rush out the door and Tala slams it shut. Link looks to the village and to his horror sees the rampage going on. Many monsters had crowded the village and were fighting the villagers. Soldiers and hunters, even fishermen, were at arms with the monsters, while houses were burning and some of the animals were slaughtered. He could even see bodies lying on the ground with puddles of blood surrounding them, but he didn't stare too long, afraid of who it would be.

"Here," Jin said, passing him the black and silver bow Daze had given him back at Penrith, including a quiver with a set of fifteen arrows. "That guy back at Penrith taught you, right? You might as well use those skills and help us clean this mess up."

If Link wasn't distracted by the monsters pouring in, and he had taken out a arrow and holding back the string, he would've heard the jealous undertone in Jin's voice. It wasn't something he would have thought about, not when he started targeting the monsters with high precision, killing them instantly before they could attack helpless villagers, or overwhelmed soldiers.

He and Jin run through the village, Link had run out of arrows quick, but found some on their way to Keras, who glanced back with a raised brow. She was covered in dark blood, and looked fierce in battle alongside her family and several soldiers.

"You have no training with a bow, Link," she said, gripping a sword and cutting down a monster that had gotten too close to her.

Link laughed, pulling back the string and letting the arrow fly through the air, hitting another monster square in the face. "You're right. I'm already exhausted, I don't have the strength to wield this thing for long."

"Let me use it before you break the damn thing," she said, sheathing her bloody sword as he passed her the bow and quiver of arrows. The second they left his hand, Jin was dragging him away from the battlefield and toward Dira who had her own problems to deal with.

She was gritted teeth and snarls as she slashed many monsters, their bodies hit the ground the second her blade cut into them. She didn't allow another to rise to their feet. He always knew she was ruthless, and was proud to see it.

"Come on," she waves her hand, and they rush after her as she clears the way through a narrow path out of the village, and she comes to a skidding stop as more monsters appear, snarling with their clubbed weapons. And to Link's sudden shock, an arrow flies through the air and strikes Dira in the shoulder, a horrid cry leaves her lips, her hand forced to drop her sword as she fell to her knees, blood oozes through the fabric of her shirt.

"Dira!" He and Jin yell as they run to her, and to Link's chagrin, another memory splices between his reality and another's. On a battlefield covered by a yellow sky, flames in the distance, is a woman on a horse as she draws closer to him. She wields a bow with a glowing arrow, her brunette hair flares behind her, her aim steady as the arrows sings and hits its target, the riveting dangerous presence of darkness in the distance.

"Zelda," he says, and determination fills him to the brink as he reaches for Dira's discarded sword, while Jin holds Dira who's holding back cries of pain. He isn't entirely sure how to hold the sword, not like how he was with the bow and arrows, this felt strangely different, as if he was disconnected to the other memories he carried.

He might even die on this battlefield, surrounded by deadly monsters who didn't care an ounce for him and his friends, nor the village they were infesting. He might not even figure out why he had this memories, nor if he will ever see Epona again.

It hurts to think it, to feel it, to know that all of this was for nothing. He glared at the group of monsters drawing closer, and in all his despair, he reached for the portion in those vast memories connected by centuries of lost times, he found that determination that carried them through the ages, through their pain and hatred. He let it fill him up, pouring into the recess of his mind.

He won't let them hurt his friends.

Whatever courage the Great Deku Tree spoke of, or what the Legendary Hero had possessed, he didn't care if he didn't have it in him. He wasn't going to stand here and die without doing something to change the tide. He grips the handle of the sword and swings it at the enemies, slashing them through the cheek, and shoving them back with they parried his attacks, steel slid together before he killed more, bodies landing to his feet, puddles growing around him.

And his hand ached, the top of it, a burning feeling that didn't fade even how much he tried to ignore it while fighting off the monsters. He didn't want them to touch his friends, not to let them hurt Dira like that, nor Jin who held no weapon.

 _Courage._

The unknown voice, a woman's voice, does not hinder him as he continues with his relentless assault.

 _Courage._ She speaks. _Is all you need so you can do what is right. To protect those who are dear to you. To protect those who cannot protect themselves at the cost of your own life. Use the Courage I bestow upon you, Chosen Hero, bare my crest._

His heart races as the light on his hand burns bright, cooling as it claims him, and he does not deny its power that flows within his body. A light shines bright, a power he did not know, and yet in some way, he understood. And with it, accepting the power, the light destroys the monsters around him, burning them up into ash, and since this all began, there was a settled feeling in his mind. A place he was meant to be, to stay in its lingering presence.

Once the light faded, he ran back to his friends and knelt down beside Dira while she and Jin stared at him in shock.

"What just happened?" she asked, her face pale from the blood loss.

Link smiled at her, the arrow had been taken out of her arm and was given a makeshift bandage from Jin's over shirt. He shows them the mark on his hand, and he laughs when he sees how wide their eyes go.

"I proved my worth that I'm the Hero of this era."


	12. The Hero Accepts His Destiny

Keras helped Link hide Dira and Jin in a safe place while they protect them from the monsters. Keras told him they were called Bokoblins, Moblins, Chu-Chu's, and Keese. They came in great hoards from out of nowhere and overwhelmed many soldiers, but soon even their numbers began to decrease.

"Is the myth true?" Keras asked, slashing at a bokoblin who was swinging a wide club at her, but it took it off balance, giving her an opening kill. She was covered in blood, wounds opened, but it didn't hold her back as she fought with gritted teeth. "Are you truly the Hero?"

She had seen the mark glow, it was on his hand, it gave him courage to fight even without any prior knowledge of learning combat. He knew how to hold his own in battle.

Link smiled, "Must be. If I'm bearing a piece of the Triforce."

Even saying that was a rush. They learned about the Triforce. It's power made many crave it, and wars filled the lands for a second to touch that ancient power. It was rife with conflict, and it was the reason it destroyed the Kingdom many times in the pursuit of power.

He learned mostly from Garik's stories that the Triforce was left by itself once before it was known, and there were people that hid it away, and protected it so others wouldn't fight and kill over it. Now, it seemed it too had faded with time and myth, only to turn out to be true.

There was a lot of speculation upon history, and a lot that was missing from it. Even the Royal Family were picky of who should learn it, while the Sheikah were more mysterious in their cause. As time went on, no one cared anymore, people grew up, wanted to be safe within the homes they built for the families they created. Maybe in all those hidden places, it was better that the Triforce was lost.

He wasn't so sure about holding it in his hand, but he couldn't take it back. Not when it can help him save his friends and the village.

"If you're the Hero," Keras said, slashing another bokoblin, she let out a frustrated grunt as blood sprayed into the air as puddles grew in size. Link had stepped in a few, with his lack of training growing up, his exertion was coming on strong in his arms and legs, but he pushed on. "Then the Princess must be alive somewhere, and The Great King who brought darkness to these lands!"

It didn't come to him right away to think about the implication. Keras was right. If he was chosen as the Hero, and his ascension is now known in the light once he possessed the Triforce of Courage. It must also mean the Princess is alive, and The Great King. All this time, he had been worried about other things, and maybe he can think about it later once the battle settles.

He gets a moment of reprieve, panting hard as sweat glistens and slides along his skin. He notices the piles of bodies lying on the sides, the thick blood in the grass and soil, along the pathways, between the crevices of stone walkways. It's painful to see it, his shock almost causes him to back away, to hide, but he doesn't move in that direction.

He fights with Keras, killing more monsters, watching their bodies fall as his blade slices through their bodies. He's knicked here and there, splashes of blood soak his clothes and wet his face. He spits out any that fell in his mouth before fighting onward until finally the fight calms, and he leans on Keras who stands with her sword digging into the soil. She's panting, but more in control than he is.

"I'm afraid," he tells her, wiping sweat and blood from his face.

"It's too late for fear to swallow you whole," Keras says in a grim tone, "you chose your path, now walk it."

He nodded, pushing away from her and heading along the path, his bare feet landing in the puddles of blood. He's a little disgusted that he fought without shoes, and even Keras had given him an odd look about the choice. But everything had happened so quickly that he didn't think about it. At least he still had his toes, and he didn't have the misfortune to step on sharp stones and fallen weapons. He didn't want the infection of unknown blood getting into his system.

Link's body is sore all over, and his heart is racing painfully as he comes upon a group of dead lying on blankets, away from the pile of dead monsters. He closes his eyes for a moment before opening them and looking down at several familiar faces.

Paka, the girl Jin had dated, the one with the pink dress who cared for the kids, she worked in her parents shop, and knew how to ride a horse thanks to Lok's lessons. Except, combat was not in her skill set, and yet she had picked up a sword and died with it. Her mother held Paka's hand, rocking back and forth and crying, while her father stood to the side, holding the sword she had fought with as tears brimmed his eyes.

Another was Aloane, whom he had spoken back when they fished together, and she was happy and sarcastic, and warm with everyone she spoke too. She helped with gathering most of the fish with the fishermen, and was usually the one going hunting. She was a warrior like all Gerudo's who had come from the Gerudo Desert. He knew she had fought valiantly, and it was sad to see that she had died.

And before he could look away, he had spotted Cil's body lying amongst the dead. The front of his shirt was riddled with blood that told him Cil was killed by arrows. He was also a fishermen and hunter like Aloane. One of the oldest members of that group, who was stealthy, and able to catch his prey off guard. It was only a shame his life ended in that way.

Laret, Aloane's best friend, was crying once she found her body. He stepped away to the side, watching as Laret fell to her knees, coming to Aloane's side and pressing a hand against her face, speaking her name as if Aloane would awaken, but her tears told him that Laret knew she wasn't going too.

She looked up and spotted Keras walking down the path to Link's right. Laret gasped, she got to her feet and stumbled over to Keras and embraced her younger sister.

"You're alive," she said, her voice raw from crying. "Oh, thank the Goddess, my sister is alive. You're alive!" She held her tightly, her body shaking as tears ran down her face.

"Dira!" Link turned toward a woman's anguished scream, her long white haired was pulled back into a high knot, she wore a white and red dress, ignoring the blood she stepped in, her eyes frantic as she glanced around the dead while her husband tried to calm her down. "Dira!" He saw the tears threatening to fall from her eyes before they widened, and Link turned to see Dira down the pathway with Jin.

"Mama!" she called, and her mother, Sil, ran towards Dira and held her in her arms, aware of the wound Dira had in her shoulder, while Dira's father, Vin, and her uncle, Eemon, embraced her.

Sarese, a tall Gerudo woman strode past a group of Hylian's where she headed for her two daughters, Laret and Keras, and held them in her arms.

Jin was looking at him and he almost seemed to want to come over to Link before his own parents embraced him. His father, Iras, and his mother, Cera, hugged their son and spoke to him. Link also noticed Jin's older siblings, Mavi and Ace, coming to their side, both of them also holding weapons, their light leather armour were worn down by the fight, soaked through by dark blood. He figured his younger siblings, Tarro and Isa, were hidden away so they wouldn't join the dead.

Link knew it was all private affairs at the sight of the massacre. So many have died, and he avoided looking at their faces, and to see how they were killed in battle. He was numb from the fighting, sore and tired, that all he wanted to do was go back home, wash off the blood and sleep in his own bed. He wanted to lie under the blankets and pretend none of this tragedy had ever taken place.

Link ran into Garik who was cleaner than most and probably had hidden away before the battle commenced. The man looked up at Link, his eyes widened at his presence and seemed to notice something. The mark on his hand stayed glowing faintly, as if the power still rose in him, the courage still there in his soul even how exhausted he was.

Garik stepped back and bowed his head before Link. "Oh, gracious, Goddess Hylia, who have granted us the Hero." He raised his arms into the air, "Thank you, Goddess Hylia, for granting us the Hero of our time in need. I praise you, Goddess Hylia!"

Link swallowed thickly, backing away and shaking his head. "No. Stop, Garik!" He didn't know what to do, he could feel eyes on them as more people looked toward Garik's announcement. It was bad enough so many people died, if he was declared the Hero, it would be bad timing for the ones that needed to mourn.

A hand fell on Link's shoulder and he jumped as he turned his head to see Impa standing beside him. She gave a disappointed look at Garik whose eyes widened at her presence. "Garik, tend to the wounded and the dead instead of making an unnecessary scene."

A pink flush covered Garik's face before he nodded and headed off toward where the dead lay.

Impa turned to him, her hands before her. "Come to my house, Link. I'd like to talk to you."

Link nodded, too numb to do anything else, to think of an excuse and he simply followed her down the pathway, around the bend where they walked by more dead, grieving villagers, and soldiers who walked the paths. A grim air hung around them. Akyllan hadn't ever been hit this hard before. The attack was out of nowhere, and Link wasn't sure how he felt about that.

He walked up the stairs and into Impa's home that smelled of strong incense with a dim light, and closed windows. They entered another room where Link left the cracked open while Impa sat down behind a desk.

"I'm sure you know without me explaining why this happened," she began, her tone serious and to the point. Her eyes frightened him, made him feel inferior while his mind went blank with answers. "The Great King knows you've awakened. He knew you were going to ascend sooner or later."

Link wasn't as surprised to hear that, it made sense, but in someway, how did he know? How did he know that Link was the Hero before he knew himself?

"The Great King is testing your resolve in accepting the crest." Impa's gaze went down to Link's hand and the crest no longer glowed as it did before. "He's testing your acceptance to the fate of the Hero."

Link looked up, brows furrowed at her words. "No. This isn't a test, this is a slaughter!"

"The Great King sees no difference in his methods," Impa retorted. "Killing is what he is, who he is. He has enslaved many, slaughtered countless people throughout the ages since his existence." Link lowered his head, staring at the wooden floors, feeling troubled. "Each reincarnation of him left Hyrule in considerable ruin. He leaves bloodshed and death in his path since the beginning."

Hearing what Impa has said left Link more troubled about the crest he now possesses. The role he accepted while fighting off the monsters to protect his friends. Now that the repercussions were large and he had seen death up close, tragedy and tears mixed together in painful ruin in his small village. Yet, the Kingdom is bigger, and there were more people outside the border of Akyllan.

Impa calmed herself and said, "The Great King ascended long before you, Link."

He glanced up at her, but his ear twitched at a notable sound coming from behind him. A creak of weight on floorboards outside the room, but he was more concerned about what Impa was about to tell him.

"His ascension came in the form of The Ancient Scourge," Impa said, surprising Link. "It has damaged many lives, I've seen first hand of its chaos, and during that time the Royal Family was already gone. The palace emptied, and the princess miss—"

"He's the reason!" The door is wide open and Link is shocked to see Dira standing furious in the threshold, she still wore the bloodied clothes, her fingers curled and her body stiff. Blood still stained her hair, but he can see that some strands were wet. He figured her parents tried to take out the blood as best they could. She stepped into the room, ignoring Link who moved to the side, away from her rage where he also spotted both Keras and Jin entering the room. "He's the reason why Nila died!"

Impa sighed at the sight of the three. "Yes," she said to Dira, "he's the reason why she died, and many more during that hard time."

"I want him dead," Dira spat, she breathed heavily with her hatred, "I want to kill him myself!"

Impa shook her head at Dira's outburst. It almost looked as if she were dealing with a child with a trantrum, but was still holding onto some kind of patience when before she was simply trying to quickly get through explanation with Link. Now it seemed she had to change direction with Dira who was a bit more demanding than Link's numb disposition.

"Not a mere mortal can kill The Great King." Impa placed her hands on the desk, rolling back her shoulders, as if readying herself for more of Dira's rage. "Only the Chosen Hero and the Princess of Legend has ever striked the killing blow."

Dira placed her hand on her hip, the one that wasn't injured, and gave Impa a menacing smirk. "Well, it's time things changed."

Impa shook her head again, letting out a sigh. "Just because you want him dead, doesn't mean it'll be done by your hand."

Dira rolled her eyes and slumped her shoulders, wincing at the pain in her shoulder before turning to Link. He was a little sensitive to the conversation they were having, mostly the one about killing The Great King, as if he had a chance to do it without getting himself killed in the process. And now Dira was glaring at him, her resentment burned in her eyes. "Fine. I'll go with Link, and I'll make sure he kills him!"

Link blinked, taking a cautious step back. "W-what?" He didn't expect her to say that, maybe more ranting, and then she'd let it go, but this...why did she decide on this?

Dira stepped closer to him, her glare stayed in tact. "It's obvious you can't stay in Akyllan, Link. Get that through your head! The Great King knows you reside here. Akyllan won't be safe if you stay." She sighed, and her tone calmed. "You have to fulfill your destiny, Link."

Why did it sound so threatening in Dira's voice? More dire, as if he was running out of time and he only found out half way through? He was scared. His heart raced at the thoughts and what Dira and Impa said. He looked at Keras than at Jin, they both weren't saying anything, and he knew they knew that it was right. He had to leave.

"If you're going to get somewhere," Impa said, easing the room back into focus as Link turned to her, trying to hide his shakiness, "the first thing you should do is locate the the Blade of Evil's Bane. It resides in the Lost Woods before the Guardian called The Great Deku Tree."

The name that the tree in his dream had given to him. He had spoken to him before the battle waged. He told him that Link wasn't ready to pull the sword from the pedestal until he bore the crest. He looked down at his hand where it glowed faintly.

He accepted his choice, his path, and his friends were here with him. He knew he had to leave Akyllan, it was the only right thing to do so no one else dies. And if he was going to do anymore good, he'd have to retrieve the sword.

Link looked up and stepped past Dira and stared into Impa's eyes, willing enough determination and courage in his words. "I'll do it, I accept my position as The Hero." It was only right that he did. All the memories he possessed of the others, they had accepted it, the responsibility of protecting the land.

"Before you go," Impa said as Link was about to turn and locate some equipment in the village before he departed, she rose from her chair and stepped around the desk, "I want to give you something before you leave." He followed her out of the room, his friends crowding the front area, as Impa returned with a box with a smile on her face. "This tunic has been woven and sown over the years. It was tradition to make this in the Sheikah Clan back when Kakariko Village still stood."

Tradition?

She opened the box and revealed a green tunic and a long cap. "This was made for the Hero that would return to us. And you have returned, and my family, a long line of Sheikah who protected and cared for the Royal Family, and the Hero, waited for this moment. It is a great honor to be giving you this at my age." She bowed before him as he carefully took the clothes from the box, marveling over it. She indicated the room to the right where he can change his clothes, there was a water basin to clean the blood from his hair and face. A bit of food laid out for him.

Jin joined him in the room as he took off his clothes, dropping them onto the floor He seemed awkward at first as he pulled something from his pocket.

"I wanted to give you these," Jin said, holding three photographs in his hand. There seemed to be guilt on his face as he glanced down at how crumpled they were, but Link blamed the battle as he took them from him.

The first was of a family in front of a farm, two men and a woman. He didn't recognize them and he didn't know why Jin was giving him the photo.

"Her name is Malon," Jin said, looking away from the photo, "in your past life, you were married to her, and had children with her, but he died during the war."

Link didn't say anything, looking at the woman, he felt nothing towards her and the one memory that kept returning didn't surface. He switched photos and found one of Malon, but this time she was younger, and in the background was a horse. He stared, his eyes widening at the sight of her.

"Epona," he whispered, his breath came out heavy as he stared at her in the background. She was small than what he remembered, but he knew when he was older, he had gained her trust and Malon allowed him to take her as his own.

Link glanced over the one with the woods and gave two back to Jin. "I'll keep this one," he said, looking down at the one with Epona. "I want to find her."

"You will," Jin said, smiling as he pocketed the photo's and picked up the green tunic. "Now, let's see how you look in this."

For the journey, Impa made sure he was given chainmail under the green tunic, including armguards, tan colored pants, traveling boots with steel toes, a belt around his waist, including a holster for the sword he used to protect Dira and Jin.

Before he left, Impa reminded Link that the Lost Woods was treacherous. He did not want to lose his way in there. Link assured her that he won't, and in some way, he already knew the path.

She smiled, and for the first time since meeting her, he caught the sorrow in her eyes and it sagged along her shoulders. "Keep that positivity, Link, holding the mantle of Hero has destroyed you many times in the past."

He nodded, and stepped outside of Impa's home and fixed the cap on his head. It seemed almost silly for him to wear it while his friends stood at the bottom of the stairs. They were smiling, and he wasn't sure if they were making fun of him, but the cap fit and he ran down the steps.

"Should you be leaving Akyllan while injured?" Link asked Dira, who still had a pale pallor upon her face, shadows hung heavy under her eyes.

She gave him a grin and said, "Eemon gave me Chu Jelly he extracted from the slain Chu-Chu's."

Link and Jin grimaced. "And you drank it?" Jin asked, incredulously.

"It's a makeshift health potion, it's only relevant _after_ they die," she said, glaring at them.

"Did your uncle at least give you an actual health potion?" Link asked.

"Yes," she said, furrowed brows while holding her bag filled with what her parents had made sure she needed on their journey.

Link watched his friends say goodbye to their families. He stood in the background, away from everyone else who were still mourning, but mostly watching as his friends argued with their parents and siblings. Dira was slowly getting her way as her family doted on her before they succumbed, while Jin took a bit of time saying goodbye to his siblings, and Keras had simply said she was leaving and stood beside Link while they both waited for the others.

They were all dressed in different leather armour that distinguished them. Jin wore brown leather armour with a black cloak, Dira wore something equally as dark, but with a red cloak, and Keras wore light toned blue and green armour with gold borders that didn't cover her stomach nor her legs. They were both toned, and the black cloak that covered most of her red hair hid any from sight anyway, her mother knew what Keras was getting herself into.

The blood was gone from most of their hair and faces after they washed up. They drank health potions to rid them of the wounds they had and gained back their strength they lost during the battle. Link held a milk bottle and was slowly drinking it on their way out of Akyllan.

He was apprehensive about their journey. Afraid that they might not return, but if they did, they'd bring peace with them. He was ready to fight the darkness, to bring back the princess and restore the Kingdom.

 _Link._

He heard this voice before, it was far away from him, but he knew it somewhere in his soul. A whisper of it in his past lives, one before him had met this voice, bonded with it, as many who held the sword in their hand when they pulled it free from the pedestal.

He knew it as a spirit named Fi.


	13. Doubts & Rescues

"I hate him!" Dira says to the sky, the trees to their left, and to the wide plains to their right. The horses glance up before moving away, while a group of birds take flight. She's been at this since they left Akyllan, and she was marching forward with no care about the rise of her voice as she raised her hands into the air, declaring her hatred. "We're going to kill The Great King, and no one is going to stop us! I'm glad I found out who killed my sister, and now I have a name, an idea, and I can't wait until we slice his neck and chop his head off!"

Link frowned as he walked with Jin and Keras. "Quit announcing our plans to the world," he said, interrupting her rant, "or his spies will find out...and it'll be easier for him to hunt us."

"And chop _our_ heads off before we get the chance to do it to him," Jin said, raking his fingers through his dark hair, giving Dira an unimpressed expression.

She turned, placing her hands on her hips. "Fine. I'll stop." Her determination slowly faded and she turned her attention to the empty plains, the wind blowing her white hair softly against her face. "Before we do anything...can we stop at Fado Lake? I want to see if Ekos comes and tell her I won't be around for awhile."

Since the memories and the battle in Akyllan, he had forgotten about the Zora who appeared in Fado Lake. Dira was surprised and amazed to finally meet a Zora. They rarely left their Domain since the War, and even less when the Scourge took many lives.

Jin chuckled, nudging Dira in the shoulder as she glared. "You like Ekos?" he asked, wrapping his arm around her neck as they started walking once more, this time toward Fado Lake.

"I do," Dira responds.

"No, no, Dira, I mean, do you _like_ Ekos?"

"I said, I do," she replied, nudging Jin in the rib and he moved away from her, chuckling at her response. "I like her, but it doesn't mean I'll pursue her during our journey, nor will I if she doesn't want what I want. I'm old enough to come clean with that decision, and to be responsible with the person I like." She snickered, as she said, "Unlike you."

Link had barely focused on their conversation. The Lost Woods crowded his thoughts, and mostly his worth in walking in its depths. If he was even allowed to enter and leave without trouble. Garik's stories told him that The Lost Woods were a formidable place, not many have left its grasp. Yet the memories had told him of great warriors stepping in and walking out with no damage to their bodies, they didn't even need to unsheathe their weapons. They were well disciplined, and knew the laws of the wood more than most, and they had journeyed out from their home as he was doing now.

He knew they were happy and optimistic with their decisions to do what is right, but Link also knew that by the end of their journey, they were worn down to the bone. Panting ragged breaths between cracked lips, as they struggled to hold their sword, the metal plates upon their bodies were dented and torn through. Blood sunk under their blunt fingernails, and they struggled to hold themselves on shaky exhausted limbs.

Link touched the hilt of his own blade, the one he protected Dira and Jin with when he accepted himself as the Hero. Dira told him he could keep it, hone his skill with the sword before he gets his hands on the Blade of Evil's Bane. Even that was daunting. Was he truly worthy to pull it from the pedestal? Garik's story told him that only the Chosen Hero can wield the sword. Anyone else weren't able to do it, and they were then proven that they weren't the Hero. Or at least the one who bore the Crest of Courage.

Link took off his brown leather glove and the mark sat on the back of his hand and it wasn't glowing. It was there the moment he had taken up Dira's sword to defend his friend's, even without proper training, he didn't want them to die. Was he truly worthy? Someone like him unlike the friends he's surrounded by, wouldn't it make more sense if they were chosen?

Was it because he held the Hero's spirit within him, or it because the Goddess is blessing him?

Link put the leather glove back on. He sighed. "What if I'm not chosen? What if it was a fluke?"

Dira looked over her shoulder, arching a brow. "At least we know Garik was right about his stories. They weren't nonsense, so why should you be considered unworthy for something you've proved already?"

"Maybe that's the reason why you liked his stories growing up," Jin said, locking eyes with Link, "because he was right, and he was explaining your past to you."

Link nodded as they continued walking. They were right, but he didn't know if he wanted to tell them about what he's been seeing. At least the details of his dreams, and what he seen while awake. It was troubling. How he reacted to everything for the past several days. The pain his past lives felt, the way they hated, and that hatred only grew until it exhausted them to the point of death.

Maybe it was better if he kept all that to himself.

They reached Fado Lake, and while they wait for Ekos, they set down their packs and took off their cloaks. Keras wanted to test Link's fighting skills, and remark on his stances. He was still new to fighting and a small part of him wished he trained with Vollon instead of lingering between the bookshelves in Eren's bookshop.

An hour went by, and Link wiped away sweat from his forehead. Keras stood, unshaken by the exertion. She did wipe sweat from her own face with the back of her hand, the bright sun made her hair looked so much brighter in the light, a beautiful red shined upon brown skin. Her amber eyes were inquisitive as she watched him with each movement, she was swift and careful, and didn't go all out on him as she had done in Akyllan against the horde of Bokoblins, Moblins, Chu-Chu's, and Keese.

"I'm impressed," she said, giving him a smile, "you never wielded a sword before today, and yet you hold basic skills. Enough to qualify you as a prodigy swordsmen."

Flustered, Link smiled, rubbing the back of his neck. "My memories, at least the ones from my past lives, have helped in that regard." He shrugged. "It feels more like muscle memory. Like I've always known how to wield a sword."

The most relevant ones who knew how to wield a sword, the ones who were taught it an early age and never let go of its practice was a soldier for Hyrule, another had grown up around soldiers and later became a Knight. They trained for many years, even how young they were, they were disciplined, determined, mature enough to understand their responsibilities to the Kingdom. It was in their right to do what needs to be done.

It only made sense that he knew how to wield a sword because of them. They held the sword in their hand, the one bestowed from the Goddess and only the spirit will accept. They pulled it from the pedestal and wielded it perfectly.

Link looked down at his hands when he sheathed the sword. "Maybe it'll feel better when its hands."

"Keras! Link!" He turned at Dira's horrified scream as they turned toward the water's edge where he last spotted Dira and Jin. However, they were no longer there and the both of them were in the water, swimming towards three Zora's, dark blood trailed behind them, and it seemed it was coming from the main Zora they were holding. He recognized her as he and Keras sprinted toward the water, that it was Ekos. She was badly injured as the Zora's, Dira, and Jin returned to the shore.

The two other Zora's were wounded as well, yet more fresh than the one they were holding who Dira was caressing with shaky fingers.

"Ekos, Ekos?" Dira murmured, breathing heavily as water dropped upon Ekos skin.

"Our names are Alura, and Ero," the female Zora spoke, they both stood to the side, and Ero's wore an anguished expression as he looked down at Ekos whilst covered in her blood. "Zora's Domain is under attack, the Prince ordered us to leave with any injured. She told us to take her to Fado Lake. We just never knew a Royal Guard had come into contact with other…"

Link disregarded her pause, and was surprised to hear that Ekos is actually a Royal Guard to the Zora's Domain. When they first met her, she didn't seem like it, but more friendly. The Zora's that brought her here felt more hostile yet they had hit a wall.

"Take us to your Domain," Keras said, already heading for her pack and sword left on the grass.

Link nodded to the Zora's. "We'll help with the ensuring battle." He sprinted after Keras and grabbed his sword and placed his light leather armour back on.

"You know what this means," Keras said, sheathing her sword.

"Yes," Link said, looking up at her and ready for a fight. They headed back to the Zora's with the thought that the Great King decided to attack the Zora's after he wreaked havoc on Akyllan.

"I'll stay," Dira said with tears in her eyes and resolution.

Alura and Ero decided to stay as well, in case something were to happen to the two. Dira didn't object and decided to check out Ekos's wound. Ero explained where they can find The Zora's Domain, and to be swift, they were afraid for their Prince.

Jin changed and was catching up as Link kept in stride with Keras they headed for The Zora's Domain.

Link panted as he ran, hand on the hilt of his sword, and with each step he took, a memory seemed to flicker before his eyes. The same panting breath and fear burning in his veins during a cold night. He opened a trap door inside a dim lit house after he slain many monsters that evaded the town. And what he found within the trap door was a young Prince in the arms of a farm girl. Her eyes were wide as she clutched the Zora Prince in her arms, and Link saw no recognition in her eyes as she started to plea for his help.

The Prince was dying.


End file.
